Gakuen Live!
by Canadia On Ice
Summary: AU human world, OOCness, includes Fem!GermanyxItaly, Spamano, teen pregnancy, and much more. Inspired by Gakkou-Gurashi AKA School-Live! To Feliciano, a student of Hetalia Gakuen Academy in Japan, home to several students of various countries and cultures from all around the world, life has been very fun and happy since they formed the School Living Club. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1: A Typical Morning, Part 1

_**Gakuen Live!**_

 _ **AU human world, OOCness, includes Fem!GermanyxItaly, Spamano, teen pregnancy, and much more. Inspired by Gakkou-Gurashi AKA School-Live! To Feliciano, a student of Hetalia Gakuen Academy in Japan, home to several students of various countries and cultures from all around the world, life has been very fun and happy since they formed the School Living Club, in which those who join live at the school. But poor Feliciano has been looking at the world through rose-colored glasses for quite some time now, so the world isn't as black and white as it appears to be through his eyes.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: A Typical Morning, Part 1**_

* * *

The curtains were drawn mostly shut in the seniors' lounge, where there were some folded-up futons in the corner and one that was still across the floor, with a young Italian boy currently asleep beneath his blanket. He was sprawled out on the sleeping mat, clutching a Rilakkuma teddy bear wearing pajamas, and between his feet laid a brown kitty, who was fast asleep.

A few minutes later, the alarm clock sitting beside Feliciano's head started going off, the alarm a voice recording of his brother's boyfriend Antonio. **_"Wakey wakey, sleepy heads! It's time to eat breakfast, and it's time to go to school today! Nyaaaaa~"_** He had added in the "nya" at the end since the alarm clock was that of a Japanese lucky cat holding up a bell with one of its paws.

The alarm awoke the cat after a little while, and she stood up to stretch with a yawn and a mewl before trotting up her owner's body and jumped onto his back, swatting at his hair and mewing loudly to catch his attention.

This went on for a while, until the door to the room opened and in stepped his twin brother Lovino. Between hearing the alarm going off and seeing Pookie trying to wake up Feliciano, it was a little ridiculous to see.

"Oy, Feli! Come on, it's time to wake up!" Lovino said as he went over to him and knelt down, shaking him by his shoulders.

The smell of food came wafting through the hallway and Feliciano could now pick up on it since the door was open. His eyes opened with a sleepy moan, but he seemed to awaken quite quickly once his stomach growled from the lovely scent. With a bright smile, he looked up at his brother and greeted him. "Good morning, Lovi-Lovi!~" he cheered as he sat up and threw his arms around his neck, hugging him happily.

"Si, si, good morning to you too..." Lovino mumbled, patting his back a bit before pulling away. "Come on, get dressed quick! If you don't come to the club room soon you won't have time to eat before homeroom!"

"Roger that, Fratello!~" Feliciano said as he stood up and started to change out of his spaghetti-and-meatball-patterened pajamas in record time, putting on his gray plaid pants, black shoes, white button-up shirt, brown sweatervest and blue blazer.

A few minutes later he was done dressing and he went to the set of lockers they had in the room and opened his up, taking out his Rilakkuma backpack and slipped it onto his shoulders before racing out the door (forgetting to fold up and put away his futon in the corner with the others) and shouting to Pookie, "C'mon, let's see who gets there first!~"

Feliciano was laughing heartily and excitedly, trying to outrun his little feline as she bolted past him, turning the corner towards the club room. In his peripheral vision he could see a few others students around him in the halls, probably here early for club activities or tutoring from one of their teachers, and since Feliciano normally acted this way he wasn't one to care if someone was staring at him or not.

Unsurprisingly enough, as she seemed to every morning, Pookie was already waiting for him outside of the club room where they met to have breakfast together every morning. " _Maaaaan_... you win again, Pookie-chan! I don't know how you do it every time!" he whined, but none the less leaned down and scooped her up into his arms and giggled as she purred and snuggled against his chin. "Ah well, I'll win next time!" he said, as he did every time his beloved feline defeated him, before he opened the door to the club room and stepped inside with a smile. "Good morning, everybody!~" he greeted, closing the door behind himself and let Pookie down again.

Awaiting his arrival in the club room were the other members, all currently present, and looked up at him with a smile. Antonio was over at the counter, working at a stove, as this room had used to be used for Home Economics, however was left as it was when the class was given a bigger room. He was finishing cooking them some breakfast, and sitting at the desks they had pushed together to make up a table were Lovino, their friend Kiku, one of their advisers, Elizabeta Edelstein who was an English teacher, and the last person sitting there was none other then Feliciano's own lovely girlfriend: Monika Beilschmidt, who was Elizabeta's niece by marriage. Their other adviser was Elizabeta's husband, Roderich, who was the brother of Monika's mother.

"Ohayo, sempai." Kiku said quietly but in a friendly manner before looking back down to his book he was currently reading.

"You seem much more chipper now that it's time to eat, Fratellino," Lovino mumbled in an amused tone.

"Why wouldn't I be? We always get to eat breakfast together every morning! All of us!" Feliciano said with a bright smile. He then went over to the end of the table where Monika was sitting and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, cuddling into the top of her head happily. "And with my beautiful Amore, above all else!~" he cooed.

Monika was slightly tense and she blushed a little bit. "Feliciano, careful now. Remember, she's a little sore from track practice yesterday." Elizabeta told him gently.

"Aaaaw, that's right... my poor Amore! That coach of yours needs to go easier on you..." Feliciano said, letting her go but leaned down and peppered kisses across her face, his lips feeling a slight warmth from the redness of her face from her blush. He giggled a little after he pulled away from her, brushing some of her hair from her face. "But you're just so cute, Moni-Woni!~"

"Come on now, Feli, sit down si?" Antonio asked as he started setting plates down at their makeshift table. "Time to eat a nice breakfast before heading off to class. And remember, I'm making some pasta for lunch today."

" _Wooooow!_ That sounds great, Toni! Grazie, grazie!" Feliciano said happily, picking up his silverware after Antonio gave him his plate. As he inhaled the scent of the cheese and pepper omelette in front of him, his stomach gave a soft growl and he smiled. "It smells so great... it's so nice of the agriculture club to give us vegetables from their garden and eggs from their hen!"

"It helps when Toni's their president, eh?" Lovino asked as he reached for the salt and pepper, seasoning his omelette before he started to cut it up.

Feliciano hummed slightly as he nodded, also as he was chewing his first bite. "Mmmmh~ Wow, it tastes so good, Toni!~"

"Glad to hear that you like-" Antonio blinked as he sat down with his own plate, suddenly witnessing Feliciano practically wolfing down his food. A usual morning development, since he always seemed to wake up late and had to eat quick in order to get to homeroom on time. "... it." the Spaniard finished.

Lovino just rolled his eyes, continuing at his more moderate pace as opposed to his younger twin brother. It was just like Feliciano to inhale food, no matter if he had five minutes or five hours to spare.

"F-Feli, slow down! You might choke..." Monika told him worriedly.

"Don't worry, Moni! I'm perfectly fine!" Feliciano told her when he paused for a moment. "Toni's cooking is just so great! I feel so lucky we get to eat it every day!" Though a moment later he could feel that his blazer was a little tight around his abdomen where it buttoned now and he looked down at them with a pout, poking his belly a little. "Wow, I think it's making me gain weight... but it's so gooooood I don't wanna stop!~" he giggled before continuing to eat his omelette and sausages.

Antonio chuckled softly. "Well I guess you and Lovi are still growing boys. You both hardly ever gain any weight at all."

" _I'd give anything to have their metabolism..._ " Monika mumbled, eating a bit slowly herself.

"Eh? I would figure since you're on the track and field team it'd be easy for you to keep yourself at a healthy weight!" Feliciano said. A normal boy would see how that would imply he was calling his girlfriend fat.

And a girl who didn't know her boyfriend like Monika did, she would take offense to such a comment. She just rolled her eyes slightly but giggled. "Well, it's easier for some then most. Antonio's food is great though... it's so hard not to resist seconds."

"Si, si! I know! If I had more time every morning I'd have more all the time!" Feliciano replied.

" _Maybe if you woke up earlier..._ " Lovino muttered behind his glass.

"Sempai, you could slow down a little though. First bell isn't for another fifteen minutes..." Kiku told Feliciano, a little concerned at times that his friend would choke from how fast he could eat. He swore he once saw him swallow a tomato whole and not even bat an eyelash or act like it was out of the ordinary... but it certainly had looked to be so.

"Si, I know! But I promised Roddy I'd try to be more diligent about getting to class on time!" Feliciano replied.

"How hard could that be when your classroom is on this floor?" Lovino asked.

Feliciano pouted a little. "Lovi, don't tease meeee!" he whined.

"Come on now, boys, eat up before it gets cold. None of us should be late today, ja?" Elizabeta said gently in her motherly voice to stop the little 'spat' of sorts.

"Yes, Lizzy!~" Feliciano replied with a smile before continuing to eat his breakfast.

Monika was used to his mannerisms by now, so she looked over at Elizabeta and asked, "So, what are we going to do for gym today?"

"I figured some nice yoga lessons would be relaxing and beneficial. They'll probably help with your muscles so you won't be so sore after track meets and practices." Elizabeta responded.

"Oooooh! I get to see my pretty Moni wearing yoga pants? That sounds great!~" Feliciano said.

"Pardon me, but that is my niece we are talking about, Feliciano!"

Feliciano flinched from hearing that voice and turned his head to see Roderich standing at the door. "E-eh, Roddy how long have you been there?!"

"Long enough, and please try to remember, during school hours call me Professor Edelstein." Roderich replied with a heavy sigh and a bit of a glare, his arms crossed. Monika was his niece after all, so hearing comments like that from Feliciano was a little much for him.

"Ve, I'm sorry Roddy!" Feliciano replied.

"For heaven's sake, I just told you to-" His words fell onto deaf ears as Feliciano soon resumed eating rather ravenously, as if he didn't want to be scolded any longer. "Just remember to call me Professor in class, alright?"

"Si, si! I'll do my best, Roddy!"

Roderich sighed again and leaned against the wall. " _That boy..._ " he uttered under his breath.

Feliciano finished his breakfast not long later, leaning back happily in his chair for a little while. "Yummy... my belly feels nice and warm now~"

Antonio chuckled. "Do you want any more, Feli?"

"No thank you, if I get too full before class I fall asleep!" Feliciano responded.

"I'll take a little more if there's enough," Monika said. "I'll need as much energy as I can get for practice..."

"Si, of course milady!" Antonio replied with a nod, getting up to refill her plate when she was done.

"Wow, Moni ate pretty fast like me!" Feliciano said.

"Si, but the only difference between you and her is she actually tastes what she's eating before she shoves it down her gullet without even chewing." Lovino replied.

" _Loviiiii_ , stop teasing _meeeee!_ " Feliciano whined again.

Elizabeta giggled softly before she saw a bottle on the table and handed it to Monika. "Oh, and don't forget to take these."

"Right, thanks, I almost forgot." Monika replied, opening it up and taking out a vitamin from inside.

"Ve, does every girl on the track team take those?" Feliciano asked.

"Ja, they're vitamins meant to help with energy in teenage girls." Monika said.

" _Wooooow_... I wonder if they'd work on Lizzy! She looks really young like a teenager!" Feliciano wondered aloud.

Said Hungarian blushed, placing one of her hands on her cheek. "Aw, Feli, you sweet little charmer you..."

"Dating my niece and hitting on my wife, are you?" Roderich asked.

" _Aaaaah!_ Roddy stop sneaking up on me and scaring me like that!"

"I've been here the _whole time!_ "

Monika just sighed, quietly thanking Antonio when he put her plate back down in front of her, picking up her utensils to continue her breakfast.

A short time later after everyone was done, Lovino was washing the dishes at the sink while Feliciano was drying them for him.

 _Ding dong, ding dong!_

 _Dong ding, dong ding!_

Feliciano blinked a little as the school bell chimed. "Ve, I gotta get to class soon!"

"Go on ahead, I'll finish up here. It won't take long." Lovino assured him.

" _ **Grazie grazie, Fratellone!~**_ " Feliciano pipped, hugging him around his neck for a moment before he went back to the table to get his backpack, slipping it on. "Well, I'm off now!" he said, going over to Monika and cupped her cheek in his hand, kissing her other one. "I'll see you for gym, then we get to have lunch together! Have a good day, Amore!~" he said happily and lovingly with a smile.

"Danke. Have a good day too, Liebe. Try to pay attention so Uncle doesn't have to scold you again..." Monika told him.

"Si, si! I know! Roddy always takes good care of me!" Feliciano replied, going over to the door where Roderich was still standing, waiting for the boy. "Come on Roddy-Woddy, let's get to homeroom!" he said as he opened the door and raced down the hallway.

" _Feliciano!_ Don't run in the halls, and _please_ , call me _Professor Edelstein!_ " Roderich called after him as he followed the boy at a more moderate pace.

Lovino sighed a little, placing the dishes in the dishrack and dried off his hands with the towel. "Man... he certainly is livelier then usual today, isn't he?"

Monika looked down a little with a sigh, brushing some of her hair behind her ear when it hung down over her face. "Ja... but, sometimes I wish I could have his carefree demeanour."

Elizabeta sent her a gentle look and reached over, placing her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Monika... things will improve soon."

"For everyone's sake..." Lovino began, staring at the door that Feliciano had left wide open in his rush to get to his classroom. "I really, really hope so."

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Sorry if the formatting seems a little odd, it's been a while since I submitted something on here so I'm getting used to it again...


	2. Chapter 2: A Typical Morning, Part 2

_**Chapter 2: A Typical Morning, Part 2**_

* * *

Feliciano skid on his feet a bit as he tried to stop in front of his classroom door at just the right place, but wound up a few feet away from it after he failed to hit his mark. However once he gained his balance he scrambled to the door, panting softly but smiled in triumph. " _Veee_... I made it on time!" he cheered before he opened the door, greeting the others in there. "Good morning!"

A girl with long brown hair in two ponytails tied with red ribbons looked up and waved. "Good morning, Feliciano. You seem happier then usual today."

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked as he went over to the desk beside hers, taking off his backpack as he sat down. "I get to be with my friends and brother every day! And we get to have good food together before we go to class! And later today..." Feliciano's eyes suddenly became sparkly. "I get to see Moni in hot yoga pants before we have pasta for lunch~" he said in a dreamy voice.

"Mr. Vargas, how many times do I have to remind you that she is my niece?!"

Feliciano paled and tensed when he heard Roderich's voice from behind him again and turned around, waving his arms and stuttering. "I-I'm sorry Roddy I'm sorry! It won't happen again, I swear I swear!"

Roderich sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. " _Why don't you ever call me Professor Edelstein..._ " he mumbled before walking up to his teacher's desk.

The girl giggled into her hands in amusement from the little spectacle, seeing Feliciano was still trembling a little in fear from how Roderich could make himself appear intimidating at times. "Aside from her overprotective brother and uncle, sounds like dating Monika is a dream come true for you, huh Feli?"

All of a sudden his fear was gone and Feliciano's aura was enveloped in hearts and sparkles. "Siii!~ She's so pretty and smart, and she loves me so much! I just wanna smother her with love every day for the rest of my life!"

"Sounds like Monika is one lucky girl, Feliciano."

"And I'm a lucky man to have her!" Feliciano said with a smile before looking back at his classmate. "So, what about you? Any man to sweep you off your feet every night, Michelle?"

Michelle's face turned red at that and she stuttered a little, fiddling with one of her ponytails. "E-eh, no, not lately..."

"Well, don't you worry about it, I'm sure the right man will come your way soon. You're a very nice and pretty girl, anyone would be lucky to have you!" Feliciano told her encouragingly.

"Aw, thank you Feli, that's so sweet." Michelle replied with a smile.

* * *

A few periods later, it was History class, and Feliciano was asleep at his desk. He had slept through half of every other class and now he had been asleep for most of History, until Roderich noticed and he came over, smacking his ruler on Feliciano's desk. "Mr. Vargas! Pay attention!" the Austrian scolded the boy in a firm tone of voice.

It woke Feliciano as it always did and he groaned tiredly, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. "Si, Roddy, I'm sorry..."

The brunette sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's _Professor_ -"

"Pookie?!" Feliciano paled a little when he heard Kiku's voice at the door, looking around in the room and called the cat's name a few more times. All of the other students were staring at him in confusion and Feliciano scrambled in his desk a little before falling onto the floor. "Pookie, where are you - eh? Sempai, what are you doing?..."

"K-Kiku-chan we're in the middle of a lecture!" Feliciano replied as he climbed back into his chair.

"Oh, right, my bad, I'm sorry!" Kiku said, appearing to be trying to brush it off. "It's just that... Pookie ran off again, we're not sure where she went!"

Roderich sighed. "Feliciano you're dismissed, go find her before a student with allergies develops hives, ja?"

"Yessir, Roddy!~" Feliciano said as he stood up and raced down the row of desks, over to the door to Kiku and left the room.

"It's _Profess_ -" But the end of the sentence was not heard, as Kiku closed the door and he and Feliciano started to look around, calling the cat's name as they tried to locate her.

A moment later Feliciano looked at Kiku and said, "Should we be more quiet? There are other classes in session too!"

"Oh, hai, we should." Kiku replied with a nod as they went down the hall to go check for open doors Pookie could have gotten into.

"Kiku-chan, you seem more scatter-brained then me today! Did you get enough sleep last night?" Feliciano asked.

Kiku blinked and blushed a little. "I-I slept sufficiently enough, arigatou!"

Feliciano giggled a little, sneaking up behind him and hugged him around his shoulders. "Am I wearing off on you, Kii-kun?~" he teased, nuzzling their cheeks together.

" _P-please don't call me that..._ " Kiku muttered in an embarrassed tone of voice.

As they began their search for the elusive kitty, as they turned a corner Kiku spotted her slinking her way into a classroom and he immediately went in that direction, and Feliciano blinked as he opened the door without knocking and called inside, "Pookie-chan, Pookie-chan come back here!" as the cat appeared to be climbing up on desks and jumped her way towards the lab stations.

Feliciano paled a little and rushed to the door as well, calling in, "We're sorry everyone, we're sorry! Our club mascot's gotten loose!" he said, bowing apologetically to the students inside, glad to see that Pookie was not knocking anything over or breaking things. Yet. "Pookie, come back here, si? Come on, I'll give you tuna for lunch if you're a good girl today!"

The cat seemed to perk up a little at that, and so she rushed over to the door and Feliciano opened up her arms for her to jump into... however she merely ran past the both of them and ran off down the hall, her tail fluffed up from excitement, as if she thought this were all just a game.

Kiku ran after the cat immediately and Feliciano barely remembered to apologize again before he closed that classroom door and they ran after her again.

As luck would have it, they followed her up a flight of stairs and to their surprise, saw the door leading up to the roof was left open. Pookie made her way right up there and ran onto the roof, the door to the outside also having been left open. At the sound of rustling footsteps, Antonio picked his head up from the part of the garden he was tending and looked towards the doorway as Feliciano and Kiku came rushing up. "Eh? What are you two doing? You should be in class!"

"W-we know..." Kiku panted out, leaning over a little as he tried to catch his breath. "B-but Pookie left the club room floor... I thought she might get hurt, and that she was looking for Feli-sempai..."

Feliciano spotted a brown tail hiding behind one of the back patches of soil and a gleam appeared in his eyes, starting to approach her slowly with his hands held up to grab her. "There's nowhere left to go now, Pookie-chan... so... _**COME TO MEEEEEE!**_ " he squealed, going to tackle-grab her, only to have her slip from his grasp at the last moment and he blinked, suddenly sliding into a wooden box with bags of soil and trowels upon it, and they knocked over onto him and he squealed again.

Kiku then saw Pookie going back to the plant she'd been near before, sniffing it curiously before starting to nibble on a few of the leaves. She started purring happily, however a moment later Antonio shooed her away from it. "Pookie, no sneaking catnip!" he scolded her before looking over at the Italian covered in dirt. "Feliciano... you should know better then to come barging up here without an explanation!"

Feliciano whined and pouted a little as he sat up, brushing some dirt off his clothes and out of his hair. "Si, Tonio... I'm sorry. But Roddy told me to find Pookie before she came across a student with allergies. I didn't want her to make anyone sick!"

Antonio sighed. "Alright... but next time, remember to announce your presence, si? And please apologize. We've been up here gardening for our free period, and now we have a mess to clean up."

" _Hai, gomen nasai._ " Kiku said, placing his hands together and bowing apologetically.

"Si," Feliciano said as he stood up and bowed too. "I'm sorry everybody! I'll help you with clean-up, I promise!"

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Just go clean up and get back to class, alright?" Antonio asked. "We don't mind finishing up here on our own. Besides, you need to attend classes more then you need to help."

" _Eeeeeh?_ Is that a jab at my grades again, Tonio-chan?" Feliciano asked.

"Si, it was." Lovino said as he made his presence known, having taken out a broom and dustpan to clean up his twin's mess. "Now go hurry! Go take a shower and then go put on a clean uniform! Lizzy can write you a note to give Roddy so you can explain your prolonged absence."

" _Siiii!_ " Feliciano replied with a smile before he reached over, picking up Pookie who didn't protest this time. She purred and cuddled into his chest, in a good mood from the catnip. "Alright Kii-kun, let's get back!" he said as he half-skipped back to the door, heading down the stairs.

Kiku turned to them with a small bow and, "Arigatou," before he followed after Feliciano at a more moderate pace.

Lovino sighed slightly, sweeping the dirt up and back into the sacks they'd fallen out of. They needed it after all, and it wasn't easy to replace. After he was done he wiped his forehead with his forearm, looking down from the side of the roof at all of the students gathered on the fields and track. "Man... they've been playing soccer almost every day." he observed aloud.

A light breeze gusted as Antonio merely nodded mutely, tucking some of his stray hairs under his bandanna. "Si... it's almost fascinating, in it's own rite."

Lovino sighed, leaning his arms on the inner guardrails, looking down below for a moment before he slipped his eyes shut, letting his mind become lost in thought.


	3. Chapter 3: A Typical Afternoon, Part 1

_**Chapter 3: A Typical Afternoon, Part 1**_

* * *

Feliciano made it back to class just in time for the final bell, and Roderich hadn't become too mad with him after reading his wife's note to explain everything. So Feliciano borrowed some notes from Michelle so he could copy them over to his notebook before he headed off to the student lounge to change into his clothing for gym. He then headed to the old staff room that had been turned into a yoga studio for gym classes, where Elizabeta and Monika were already waiting for him.

"Ve, I'm so glad I wasn't late!" he said as he and Elizabeta set up some of the mats for them to exercise on. "Roddy was a little angry I spent so long trying to find Pookie. But after he heard why he was glad I didn't come back to class covered in dirt and get the place all dirty!"

Elizabeta let out a soft laugh. "Well, I'm sure they all appreciated that too. And at least now that Pookie's back in the club room, she can't go off on her own for a while. At least she listens to you most of the time, Feliciano."

"Ja... who knows what could happen if she keeps wandering off on her own." Monika said as she carefully stretched her back, rubbing her lower back with her hands a little.

Feliciano noticed this and asked, "Are you sure you're okay, Moni? You've been getting sore a lot lately..."

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Monika assured him. "Nothing that can't be handled."

"Well... okay." he replied with a small nod. "Oh! But if you ever want a massage, I can do that for you! I know you pull your muscles at track sometimes."

Monika smiled a bit and nodded. "Alright then, Feli. Danke."

"So, are we ready for today's lesson?" Elizabeta asked.

" _Siiii!_ " Feliciano responded.

Elizabeta began the lesson with some warm-up stretches, making sure to correct either of them if they were positioned improperly and at times had to catch Feliciano's attention from staring at Monika too much. He could have sworn that he could feel Roderich's glare through the window of the door at times, though it was just his imagination a few times. When he'd look sometimes he'd get a glance of the Austrian but then a few times he looked and saw nothing. So he tried his best not to admire his girlfriend too much, but during some stretches and poses, it was just too difficult not to. Monika was just so beautiful in his eyes.

After gym was over he noticed Monika was a little more out of breath then usual and moving a bit gingerly. She told him it was just because it was time for lunch and she was hungry, but he still worried a little.

Although his excitement for pasta served up by Antonio was rather immense, so he was happy to go sit down and eat with all their friends again. Monika only ate a small portion before she had to be excused for the rest of the day so she could get some rest. Feliciano said he'd look after her but Elizabeta said he still had a few more classes before the end of the day, so she looked after her niece instead.

However, being the doting boyfriend he was, he made sure Monika was nice and comfortable before he had to leave. He even gave her his Rilakkuma teddy bear, and gave Pookie instructions to stay by her side which the cat seemed to understand so she obeyed her 'command' of sorts.

Feliciano was in high spirits for the rest of the day, though he did keep drifting off or sleeping (but mostly sleeping) in class from time to time. The final class was advanced music lessons, so he ventured to the music room nearby the student lounge and spent his time being taught by Roderich. It was a small class so there were only a few others there with him, including Lovino. He drifted off from time to time, ending up with Roderich scolding more then a few times, though every time the Austrian wanted to hear him play certain notes or a song he did so with flawless ease.

Despite Feliciano's carefree attitude, he was naturally gifted, so his musical abilities showed very strongly. Every time he did something correctly, Roderich praised him and gave him a gummy fruit candy, having learned over time that using positive reinforcement worked well on the boy even if it meant rewarding him like one would when training a puppy.

When the final bell rang, Feliciano stopped in the middle of playing a strings version of _Meg Mell_ , packed up his violin and all but rushed happily out of the room - not paying much attention to Roderich's shouts for him to come back to the classroom with him, because Feliciano was on clean-up duty for the afternoon.

In the club room, Kiku had already started brewing some tea and was giving a cup to Monika who took it and thanked him, still taking it easy and was sitting on the couch against the wall. A moment later, before Kiku could pour a cup for Feliciano, Lovino came back as well. He recalled Feliciano saying during lunch he was on clean-up duty, so he reminded him and Feliciano all but rushed back out the door to return to his class and do so.

As the feistier Italian busied himself, Lovino closed the door behind himself with a heavy sigh, looking down. "There's still some left in the lower hallways... it's still bright outside so we should try to get rid of some, si?"

Antonio closed the book he was reading, placing it on the table and looked up. "Si, we probably should... it's the time of day there's club activities. They probably remember that and might be roaming around out there."

"They were playing soccer again today too..." Lovino said. "Well, at least what can constitute as soccer with what they're able to do."

"I know." Antonio replied with a nod. With a heavy sigh, he then stood up, running a hand through his hair. "Well... we all know what to do if trouble comes our way. Let's just wait for Lizzy to come back before we go out and start... _taking care of things_ , si?"

Kiku took a glance at Monika from the corner of his eye and then nodded. "Hai, I agree."

Monika looked down into her tea cup with a sigh. "I'm sorry... I know I'm not any help at all while I'm like this."

"Don't worry yourself over that for now, si? You've got enough to worry about without this added on top..." Lovino said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Just focus on making sure both you and Feli at alright and let us worry about thinning the herd, alright?"

"Thank you, Lovi..." she said softly. "I'll do my best, I promise."


	4. Chapter 4: A Typical Afternoon, Part 2

_**Chapter 4: A Typical Afternoon, Part 2**_

* * *

When Elizabeta came back, the three set off from the club room, stopping off at a classroom nearby the room they slept in at night. They each retrieved a bag from beneath the teacher's desk, Antonio taking the heaviest one and picked up the shovel leaning against the desk as well. He hoisted it up onto his shoulder, barely phased by how heavy it was due to how often it was he gardened. Lovino took a metal baseball bat from the corner and Kiku picked up a wooden sword that looked like a prop from a play, though at a closer inspection you could see a makeshift blade had been whittled into it by shaving down flat sides on each side so they formed a point. Seen in the wood, there were a few strange stains that looked like brown blotches.

As soon as they heard Feliciano's footsteps running back toward the club room, they waited until he was out of their sight before they left the room and headed in the opposite direction, down the hall and around a corner where there were desks tied up together to form a barricade that reached two feet from the ceiling. On the other side was a door leading to the stairwell that would bring them down to the floor below theirs with a heavy chain locked around the knobs with a padlock. A small red cupboard was in the wall with a fire extinguisher inside, which Antonio opened, taking a small key from the bottom of the compartment before crawling through the desks to unlock the padlock. He handed the key to Lovino, who returned it to the spot afterwards. He also placed the chain and lock inside and closed the door before he and Kiku followed Antonio's lead.

The metal doors were slowly opened, Antonio peeking through the crack before he nodded to them and they continued on through, making sure they were closed behind them. With caution, they proceeded down the stairs, eyes and ears alert for any movement or sound.

When they reached the bottom of the flight, they heard a groan through the doors that led out into the hallway they were headed towards. There was a slight rustle of something moving against the doors, as if trying to push it open when it was supposed to be pulled open on the other side.

 _"They must've been hearing Feli..."_ Lovino whispered to the other two. _"Trying to get their way up to our level so they can eat."_

 _"We won't let it happen."_ Antonio stated in a hushed tone. _"They won't get near us if it's the last thing we do."_

Kiku nodded slightly. _"We've worked too hard to keep them away... we can't let that be in vain."_

 _"On my count,"_ Antonio whispered, readying his shovel with both hands. _"Ready?"_

Kiku held his wooden sword like a warrior prepared to duel, and Lovino held his bat like a baseball player ready to hit. _"Si."_

 _"Hai."_

Antonio quietly counted to three, before opening the door quick. As the creature was revealed, Lovino didn't hesitate to swing the bat, hitting it hard in the head.

A loud _**THUNK!**_ echoed throughout the floor.

* * *

After hearing them walk past the club room at sunset, Elizabeta excused herself from the room and left Monika and Feliciano alone together. To ease her mind she checked the doorway they had come back up from to make sure it was locked and secure, relieved to hear nothing in the stairwell before she headed up to the roof. She found the three rinsing blood off of their weapons using the gardening club hose, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw they were alright.

"How many were there today?..." she asked delicately. "It looks like more then usual..."

"Dunno..." Lovino replied. "But we managed to get about ten."

"Don't worry. We took care of the bodies." Antonio said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "Picked them up with rubber gloves and tossed them out the windows..."

"Better they eat each other then eat us, si?" Lovino asked.

"True..." Elizabeta said with a small nod. "I managed to keep Feliciano occupied, as usual. That part is easy. I put on some anime DVDs and he's been glued to them since they started playing..."

"What about Monika-san?" Kiku asked.

Elizabeta looked down, her hands twiddling together a bit. "She's... holding up. Feels a little... useless in her current state. Understandably so..."

"Well, it's best for her and best for Feli that she doesn't go off with us on our... _assignments_." Lovino responded. "If anything happens to her, it might set him off worse then before. Besides... we can't let anything happen to her like this, either. For all we know, this could be beneficial to mankind! We have no idea if this only happened in Japan... this could be a global crisis, not just a national one."

"Si... that's true..." Antonio said with a nod. "They say that no news is good news, but... at this point, who knows what we might be dealing with out there. So while this may not be ideal... her precious cargo is extra precious and important at this point."

Elizabeta nodded. "Perhaps it'll be a welcome distraction soon as well..."

"Hai," Kiku said. "I'll have to keep sewing clothes too... for now at least Feliciano thinks they're clothes for his teddy bear. We're lucky they work as both..."

When their weapons were cleaned off, Antonio shut off the hose and looked up at the orange-red sky, sunset light seeping through the clouds. A gust of wind blew, drafting a rather unpleasant smell up towards the roof from the ground, blowing around their hair as well. The Spaniard shut his eyes with a sigh and turned towards the stairs. "Let's go... we should get started on dinner soon." he said.

"Yeah..." Lovino said with a nod as they followed him along. "We still got a shit ton of rice, so we should make something to go with that. We'll have to stretch it out as much as we can... but it can be filling so it works in our favor."

"I think I can whip up some curry to go with the rice," Kiku said. "I haven't cooked for us in a while so I can take care of that, hai?"

Antonio smiled softly, looking back at Kiku. "Sounds great, mi amigo. Gracias."


	5. Chapter 5: A Typical Evening

_**Chapter 5: A Typical Evening**_

* * *

After returning their packs and weapons to the empty classroom, the trio returned to the club room where Elizabeta had gone ahead of them to check on the two lovebirds. Feliciano was glued to the TV, and Monika was still relaxing on the couch, reading a book. Once the episode he was watching was over, Elizabeta picked up the DVD player remote and turned it off.

Feliciano blinked when it was suddenly gone instead of playing the next episode, whining a little and looked over towards her. "Lizzy, why'd you do that?"

"It'll be time for dinner soon, so I'd like you to start your homework soon, alright?" she asked him.

" _Aaaaw_... alright." he said, a bit disappointed, though he stood up and looked for his backpack before he realized something. "Oops, I left my bag back in the classroom! I'll go get it, then come right back, I promise!~" he announced, saluting the others with one hand before he went out the door, happily zipping back down the hallway.

They didn't really pay much mind to his usual behaviour, though about ten minutes later Monika looked up at the clock to see what time it was and blinked. "Feli's not back yet..." she said, closing her book and set it aside. "I'll go check and see what he's up to."

There was a back-and-forth for only a minute where Lovino said he'd go look for her, but in the end he relented and they let her go off to see what was keeping him. Even if they often tried to assure their floor was secure, Monika proceeded down the hall and around the corner to Feliciano's classroom with caution. When she was just a few doors away she could hear his voice, happily chattering away, hearing the name 'Michelle' from time to time. As she approached the door she reached to open it, but a moment later stopped herself. "I'm coming in!" she called before she slid it open and looked inside.

Feliciano was standing beside his desk with his back towards the door, holding his Rilakkuma backpack in his arms. Despite Monika announcing her presence he hadn't seemed to hear her.

"... And that was why I missed the rest of class!" he said. "Oh, and thank you for your notes! I'll return them during homeroom tomorrow, alright?"

Monika sighed a little from the sight, though a moment later she stepped into the room, looking down at her feet a bit warily as she did before looking back up at Feliciano and called out to him. "Feli! Come on, it's getting late. If you don't finish your homework before dinner you won't finish it at all."

Feliciano had smiled at the sound of her voice, though he turned around with a pout when she told him that. "Aw, c'mon Moni, don't be so mean! I don't pass out right after every meal..."

"Damn near close, though." she replied. "Now come on, let's go ja?"

When Feliciano heard a giggle he giggled a bit as well and turned back around for a moment. "See? I told you she's always scolding me, but she's still the sweetest girlfriend! That's one of the reasons I love her so much!"

Monika blushed a bit when he said that, but her eyes saddened as she heard Feliciano bid a goodbye for the night to Michelle. "... Feli?..."

"Si?" he asked brightly as he turned back around a headed to the door.

Now that Feliciano wasn't blocking the view, Monika saw what was on the desk beside his. There was a tattered red ribbon barely kept together in its poofy bow, with darker red blotches on it. The rows of desks in the classroom were askew, some of them stained with spattered dark blots of blood. The only clean one was Feliciano's.

"Moni?" Feliciano's voice snapped Monika out of her little 'trance' of sorts, looking up at him. "Did you want to ask me something?"

She was silent in thought for but a moment or two, her hands fiddling a little with the hem of her shirt, looking down a bit. "... It's nothing, nevermind." she replied before looking back up at him. "Come on now. Let's go... we shouldn't keep the other students from getting home. We may get to stay at school all day and night, but all other clubs' activities ended a little while ago."

"Ah, that's right! Sorry if I was keeping you waiting." Feliciano replied before hooking one of his arms around Monika's. "Well then, let's go!"

Monika looked down towards her hands again, the white fabric of her shirt draped a little against the curves formed over her body. A moment later she gave a nod. "J-ja, let's go..." she said softly before walking out the door with him.

"Bye, Michelle! See you tomorrow!" Feliciano said with a smile and a wave before he closed the door on their way out of the empty classroom.

* * *

As usual, Feliciano barely had enough time to finish his homework before dinner was ready. Monika seemed to be sick of reading, so she had helped him out as she so often did.

And, as predicted, Feliciano was on the verge falling right to sleep after he finished eating. Lovino sighed and rolled his eyes. "You are such a child..."

Feliciano whined sleepily and shook his head, which was resting in his arms. " _Nuh-uh_... I'm not tired! I could stay up all night if I wanted to..." he trailed off with a yawn.

"Come on darling, let's get you to bed, ja?" Elizabeta said, gently nudging his arm.

 _"Mmmhn... yes, Lizzy..."_ Feliciano murmured, slowly standing up.

"How about you go get ready for bed?" Antonio said. "Once the dishes are done we'll come help set up the futons."

"Okay, Toni-chan." Feliciano said with a smile. He then looked over at Elizabeta and asked, "Do you think Roddy would be mad if Moni and I slept next to each other tonight?..."

"Well," Feliciano squeaked at the man's voice. "That depends on what you plan on doing, Mr. Vargas."

"N-n-nothing Roddy, I promise! Sometimes at night I just like to cuddle if I have a bad dream..."

"How many times must I tell you it's Professor Edel-"

"Oh don't mind what he says too much, Feli." Elizabeta said with a soft giggle. "Besides, you're a good boy. I trust that you wouldn't try anything when we're all sleeping in the same room."

Feliciano smiled a little and nodded. "Yes, Lizzy!"

Roderich sighed and looked down. " _Undermined by my own wife..._ "

"Alright, you go brush your teeth and change, we'll be there soon." Antonio said.

" _Roger that!_ " Feliciano replied with a smile, picking up his backpack and put one of the straps on his shoulders and headed to the door, Roderich following after him.

A few moments later, after they heard Feliciano's footsteps going in the direction of their makeshift bedroom, everyone was quiet but they all sat back down at the table.

"We can't keep doing this forever." Monika said after several more, tense moments of silence. "Sooner or later, we have to remind him what happened. Or... help him remember. There's too much at stake."

"Si, I know." Lovino agreed with a nod. "But right now, what are we going to do? It's not like we have any idea what's going on in the world from out here. We don't have any cell service and even if we did, we're lucky you even have your charger. There's no television service or radio signal at all either. It's nothing but white noise from all areas... even if it's just contained to Japan, who's to say some other countries won't just decide to nuke us to terminate the disease before it gets to the rest of the world? I honestly wouldn't put it past the United States."

"They probably don't have the authority to make those kinds of calls." Elizabeta said.

"Tell that to Nagasaki and Hiroshima." Lovino responded.

"That was decades ago. Something like that won't fly with the United Nations these days." she replied.

"We can't focus on all of the 'what-if' scenarios. Right now, we need to focus on one thing: what to do when Feliciano snaps out of this delusion." Antonio told them. "To be honest though, we're probably some of the way luckier ones. If this is anything like Resident Evil or The Walking Dead... being stuck in a place as well-equipped as Hetalia Gakuen Academy is a good thing. We have solar power, running water, food, fresh vegetables... and day by day we're decreasing the numbers of those... _creatures_."

Lovino sighed a bit, leaning back in his chair and crossed his arms. "We're all thinkin' it by this point, we should just call 'em zombies and be done with it."

"Maybe... but if Feliciano overhears it-" Monika began.

"If he overhears anything it would be for his own good." Lovino responded. "I know we're babying the hell out of him right now... but that's what's best for him at the moment. But subjectional amnesia like this, hearing the word zombie or even seeing one... it might help snap him out of it. Even if it's a bit messy, we need it to happen. The sooner, the better. Besides, he didn't just forget about the epedemic. He forgot everything about the day that it happened, and every day after that... until _that day_."

Monika didn't respond, though her head hung a bit and she looked down. Through the white fabric of her somewhat loose shirt, a roundness could be made out. Unmistakable, yet still small enough for her to hide. _"... I know..."_

"Besides..." Antonio began with a soft sigh. "It's not like a few months from now, he won't notice the baby. The way he is... he doesn't remember when you told him about it. Denying everything that happened... also means denying this in his head."

"I know." Monika repeated, her hands rested on her lap, wringing them together a little. "... He was talking to his classmates again today... I saw him and heard him when I went to get him earlier... I know this hasn't been easy for any of us to go through, but... seeing him like this, acting like it never happened... it makes me so sad..."

"It isn't easy for any of us." Elizabeta said. "But... what we need right now is to flesh out our plans. A way to get out of here, contact others who may still be alive. Find a better shelter or safehouse... we have to do everything we can. But before we can do that, we need to jog Feli's memory."

"For now... since even we don't know what to do, there doesn't seem to be any risk letting him attend classes." Kiku commented. "It may be a strange remedy to the situation, but... the School Living Club is our best bet at the moment."

"That's right," Elizabeta said. "Besides, it was Roderich's idea. To start a club and keep teaching even just a little... to make our surviving easier to handle and deal with."

"Yeah... I gotta admit, it sounded really weird at first, but... even though the circumstances are shitty as all hell, things could be a lot worse." Lovino said. "We're lucky to be in a place like this... and have even just this one level all to ourselves. But sometimes I feel like we're also trapped up here... trying to find our way out one day will be difficult to do."

"We can only do our best. Hopefully soon we'll be in a place where we can find our way out and escape." Elizabeta said. "The sooner the better too... before the baby is born... and before it gets too difficult for you to move around, Monika."

Monika sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry... I know that this is making things more difficult for us all."

"Don't apologize for that." Lovino said, looking back over at her. "I mean yeah, it's going to be hard, but this would be hard even if you weren't harboring something in your stomach."

"And for all we know... the baby may be for the best interests of humankind." Antonio added. "I mean... back when civilization first began, they had to start somewhere, right? So even one baby could be beneficial to the cause."

"Maybe, but it's not like it'll be Jesus or anything..." Monika said before she lifted one of her hands up and yawned into it.

"Come on... let's get to bed, ja?" Elizabeta said, standing back up and helped Monika onto her feet. "We can't keep Feli and Roddy waiting... we'll talk some more in the morning after Feli heads to homeroom."

For now, everyone nodded and after everything was cleaned up they all headed to the other room. Feliciano was already in his pajamas, reading aloud an essay to Roderich to see if he needed to make changes to it. As soon as everyone was there though, the boys set up the futons while Monika and Elizabeta went to change into their pajamas as well. The rest of them changed after the futons were ready, and once they were the girls came back in. Pookie was already curled up at the foot of Feliciano's futon, purring as she drifted off to sleep.

Luckily, Feliciano was able to sleep next to Monika's futon like he wanted and smiled, keeping one of his hands out of the covers so he could hold her hand. His Rilakkuma teddy bear was in his other arm, also wearing some pajamas that Kiku had made. Monika gently held his hand with hers, smiling contentedly but also a bit tiredly.

Once everyone was ready and comfortable, Elizabeta shut the lights off before climbing into her own futon at the end of the row. _"Buenas noches,"_ Antonio whispered.

 _"Buona notte,"_ Lovino and Feliciano whispered softly in unison.

 _"Guten nacht,"_ Monika said quietly.

 _"Oyasumi nasai."_ Kiku whispered.

As everyone was drifting to sleep, Feliciano slipped his eyes open a moment later. He turned his head towards the window, looking out at the inky night sky filled with stars and light from the moon. A smile worked its way onto his face before he looked from the window to Monika. She was breathing softly, most likely an indication she was asleep already. However, Feliciano couldn't resist scooting out from under his covers and to under her covers, bringing their futons closer together and then placed his blanket over Monika's to help keep them warm.

He softly kissed her face, keeping a hold on her hand as he closed his eyes again. _"I love you, Monika Beilschmidt... good night, my angel."_ he whispered.

Even unconscious, the words still made Monika smile a bit. As Feliciano fell asleep, he cuddled her as best as he could like this, for a rare moment forgetting his bear and only held onto Monika.

He was asleep in no time, as were the rest of them.

* * *

Hey guys! Thanks for reading all the way through to the end of chapter 5. I've been working on this story on and off for the last few months, I hope my updates won't be too sporadic, but I've been having fun writing this. :3 I might not update too steadily, but I have finished through chapter 12 already so I'll update a few times as I work on more chapters.

I love School Live and I love Hetalia, so when I started writing this it poured out of me and I've been enjoying writing it when inspiration hits me. :3

So thanks for reading, I'd love some feedback! I know it's probably not the best, but I've mostly been writing it for fun and to unwind. But if there's any errors let me know! I proofread my writing quite a bit but I probably still miss some things...


	6. Chapter 6: The Day It All Began

_**Chapter 6: The Day It All Began**_

* * *

Monika had found out she was pregnant a week ago, and told Roderich and Elizabeta six days ago. They agreed not to say anything to anyone else about it until she was ready, especially not her brother Gilbert. He was off at a Japanese university, and despite the distance between them he was rather overprotective of her. A few days before the incident Gilbert was home for two days in which she told him about it.

Surprisingly, he didn't react the way she expected: marching over to the Honda residence with a shotgun and hedgeclippers to cut off Feliciano's testicles before performing a shotgun wedding. Instead, he embraced her and gave her encouraging words of support.

The night Gilbert left, she decided to keep the baby, and the next day she planned on telling Feliciano.

That day turned into something special to something dark in the matter of hours. Monika asked for Feliciano to meet her on the roof after school, and when she told him he was ecstatic. He held her tightly and coddled her, babbling happily a little, telling her he'd be there for her and the baby, he'd even share his stuffed animals with it.

For a few days beforehand, there had been reports on the news of strange accidents and people acting oddly in surrounding regions. When Feliciano and Monika were going down from the roof to the top floor of the school, they heard sudden crashes and screams coming from outside of the school. Confused, they looked out the windows and saw bloodied bodies on the ground, and surprisingly, ones getting up and walking around. Monika felt her stomach lurch when she could clearly see one trudging around with something white and bloody sticking out of their legs... _bones_.

She then did something that very well saved not only their lives, but the lives of their friends as well: she ran into the nearest room, which was the student lounge, and into the bathroom connected to it, leaning down over the toilet and throwing up.

Feliciano ran down the hall in a panic, trying to find someone, anyone, only for Lovino to run into him when he was about the turn the corner. He grabbed his twin by the arm and dragged him along, shouting that they had to get away. Behind him were Antonio and Kiku, followed by Elizabeta and Roderich.

Feliciano then saw someone - or _something_ , slowly trudging towards the room where they could hear Monika retching, and suddenly he panicked. It looked like a student, a bloody, injured student, but it was making such outlandish sounds... it sounded like a creature from the depths of Hell itself.

 ** _"Moni! Moni, watch out!"_** he shrieked, breaking away from his brother's hold and bolted over to the creature, kicking it over and viciously started stomping on it and hitting it over and over again, feeling its head give way beneath his feet and an odd splattering sound came from it, though he dared not to look down.

They caught up to him again and they went into the room where Monika was, closing the door and locking it. Elizabeta called 911 several times but nothing happened; no one answered and no one picked up.

Throughout the evening and some of the night, they heard sounds like crashes, shatters, groaning and thumps from all around; in the rooms around this one, from outside the windows, from outside the door in the hallway... they were everywhere. They all huddled together, staying close, hoping for help to arrive in the morning... but as the days ticked by, nothing happened.

Even in a situation like this, they found themselves to be incredibly lucky. Thanks to the sink in the bathroom, they had running water, and since the room they were in was the student lounge, there were snacks and drinks, but they knew it wouldn't last forever. There was an old culinary class room on this floor more well-equipped then this room, and they knew they had to get to it, so that's just what they planned on doing. Antonio also had a key to the roof, which locked automatically at six every evening, so the creatures couldn't get up there, which was where the Gardening Club grew their vegetables and plants.

They looked all around the room to find things to arm themselves with; all they had was a baseball bat, a shovel Antonio had brought to school that fateful day for the Gardening Club, and an empty violin case Roderich had been carrying as school started to become overrun. It wasn't very heavy without a violin inside, but it was a blunt enough instrument that it could at least injure some of them.

Monika was too nauseated and terrified to even think of volunteering to leave, not like they would let her in her current state. So Feliciano was going to stay with her as well, too worried about her, and Elizabeta stayed behind as well.

It took about a week, but soon enough of the creatures had been cleared of the top floor for them to safely move to the old culinary room. There was a storage room, locked right now, but also a teacher's room where the key was for it. Roderich and Elizabeta ventured out to it, finding its door still closed and, to their luck, no one or nothing inside. They took everything from the room they might find useful; rope, twine, aspirin, water bottles, food and snacks. If it had a practical use, they took it.

Over the next few weeks, they soon had cleared the floor. It was about two months' time in which they began living the life they currently did. It was complicated, but for now they were surviving.

For food, they would go down the broken elevator shaft and to the cafeteria. In the freezer there were still some frozen meats, some frozen fruits, and in storage there were non-perishables. They would take all they could carry, put it in plastic bins to be pulled up by someone still on the top floor, before climbing back up themselves. It might have been complex, but it was well-strategized, and hardly a thing went wrong. Worst-case scenario, they ran into a few creatures.

But they knew that right now, all they were doing was biding their time. They were starting to see fewer zombies each time they went out to clear them from the school, but at times it seemed as if more were appearing. As if other survivors had been turned, or they were retaining their memories. Most of the ones they saw were teachers or students, every now and then there would be a straggler or two who weren't from the school. During the day, and even during school days, there would usually be more of them coming by. Some of them even appeared to attempt activities like from gym or clubs, playing sports or something out in the fields. There were a few things like soccer balls or basketballs, some things still set up from track and field activities as well.

Some of them were still in uniforms, others were in gym clothes from sports teams or club practices, but all of them would appear to play a game of soccer at times. Sometimes there were some who seemed to try jumping the hurdles, but mostly knock them over.

As they were, they couldn't open doors, be it traditional Japanese sliding doors or ones that could swing open. In that sense, it would seem easy to clear them all from the school... but there were quite a few of them. They would come into the school as if to find their way to their classes, though to do so they would need to get to the stairs and all of the stairwells required opening doors to go through. They were all clear, but there were still creatures on each floor. Even trying to rid of the ones on the floor beneath theirs was taking longer then they thought it would.

But even so, they knew that they had it way better then other survivors probably did.

* * *

" _Feli... Feli!..._ "

The Italian's brow twitched slightly as he felt someone shaking his shoulders to try and roust him. _"Hmm... l'mme sl'ep..."_ he murmured, his arms winding around his Rilakkuma plush toy, not realizing he wasn't holding Monika's hand anymore like when they had fallen asleep.

"Feli..." Monika sighed and shook him a little harder now. "Feli, wake up. Don't you have a private lesson with Roderich before classes this morning?"

 _"Mmh..."_ Feliciano twitched a little, but didn't roust much at all.

Monika sighed again before running a hand through her hair. "Breakfast is almost ready too-"

At that, he opened his eyes and sat up in a moment. "Ooh it smells amazing! I'll get dressed, can you make me my coffee? You know how I like it!"

Monika couldn't hold back the giggle from her throat or the smile that made its way onto her face. She nodded a little before she carefully stood up on her own. "Yes, Liebe. I can, just hurry up, okay? You can't keep Roddy waiting for long or else he gets impatient."

"Roger that!" Feliciano said, already stripping and changing clothes in front of her like there weren't anything wrong with doing that.

Monika blushed a little bit but she decided not to press him about the matter. Sometimes she couldn't help the way he could make her smile, it made her feel like things could be normal... even if just for a moment. Although, as soon a she set foot back outside of the student lounge to let Feliciano finish changing, she felt a movement in her stomach that made her gasp a little, placing her hands over it.

A reminder that even when they could survive for now... there were still matters that needed to be dealt with. And that they only had so many more months before things would change, whether they liked it or not.


	7. Chapter 7: Just The Two Of Us

_**Chapter 7: Just The Two Of Us**_

* * *

"Hey, Lizzy?"

Elizabeta picked her head up with a hum and looked over at Feliciano, swallowing what she was chewing before she answered him. "Yes, Feli?"

"I was wondering, would you help me look over my essay before class? If you've got time after lunch." Feliciano said, his fork still in his mouth as he spoke.

She smiled and gave him a nod. "Sure, that's not a problem. What prompt did you decide on for the assignment?"

"Well, when we were given the assignment, I talked with Moni about it later that day and she helped me decide on a personal piece regarding school life!" he said with a bright smile. "As soon as I started writing it, the words poured right out from my pen so quickly I could hardly keep up!" He laughed a bit after saying that. "It's funny, up until recently I hadn't had as much fun at school before. But now, sometimes I can hardly wait to get here in the morning! Even classes seem funner!"

"Well, the school is like our home now. It would be strange to hate or be miserable where you live." Antonio told him.

"Sometimes it gets a little old living here day in and day out," Lovino said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair on the chair's back legs. "I wish we could get out more, like we did on the club outing."

"That was fun!" Feliciano said with a smile. "We should go on another outing some time soon!"

 ** _"Don't act so frivilous! If you have time to goof off, you have time to study!"_**

Feliciano cringed from Roderich's tone and volume, but then looked over at him and waved his hands. "Yes Roddy, sorry Roddy! I'll do my best to study and do my homework! And practice my violin as well!"

Lovino sighed a little and shook his head. "You certainly are a piece of work, Feli. Any excuse to goof off, eh?"

Antonio chuckled softly and smiled slightly. "Well... you have to admit, the outing was fun though, si?" Pookie mewled and jumped up onto the table, taking a shrimp off of Feliciano's plate and jumped back off, running over to her food bowl to eat it. "For one, we found Pookie then and now things have been a bit more lively around here."

" _Heeeeeey!_ Fratello, she took my _shriiiiimp!_ " Feliciano whined.

"Calm down, Feli. You can have mine." Monika told him, placing her three remaining shrimp onto Feli's plate. "I'm not much in the mood for them anyways."

" _Aaaaw, grazie mi amore!~_ " Feliciano said happily, kissing her cheek and nuzzled their faces together. " _You're so sweet to me~_ "

Monika giggled softly. "You make it sound as if I gave you water in the middle of the desert..."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're still the best girlfriend in the world!" he told her, giving her a kiss on the lips before pulling away.

Monika blushed from his compliment but smiled anyways. "Danke, Feliciano. You're the sweetest boyfriend a girl could ask for..." she said softly before making a soft grunt, feeling a movement in her stomach again.

"Eh?" Feliciano had the tail of a shrimp sticking out of his mouth, looking back up at her with a blink. "What's the matter, Moni? Are you sick or something?"

"I-it's nothing, don't worry about it for now, ja?" she replied with a slight smile to try and reassure him. "But if I start feeling a bit out of it, I'll excuse myself from class and go lie down in the lounge for some rest and quiet."

"I'll ready a futon for you just in case, alright?" Elizabeta told her.

"Alright, thank you." Monika said with a nod.

"As soon as I get out of class today I'll come in and take care of you!~" Feliciano said with a bright smile. "If your tummy hurts I can rub it for you like I always do."

Monika blushed a bit, suddenly a little panicked at the thought. "T-that's alright, you don't have to do that for me..."

"Especially if you plan on going further then that with my niece, Mr. Vargas."

Feliciano suddenly started stuttering and tried explaining himself to Roderich in panic, trying to tell him he'd gotten the wrong idea. Meanwhile Lovino just sighed and leaned back in his chair again. "Things were quite lively here _before_ we found Pookie."

Kiku nodded and responded after he swallowed the rice he was chewing. "Hai, I agree. Especially with Feliciano here."

* * *

After Feliciano came back in the afternoon, he went right to the student lounge and laid down beside Monika on her futon, running his hand gently over her hair and smiled as he watched her sleep. She was so cute when she slept, just so perfect in his eyes. He loved her so much...

As he laid next to her, he draped one of his arms over her body. For a moment, it brushed against her stomach over her blanket and he blinked at the way it felt... bigger. Not just bigger but firmer as well. It was strange... was she gaining weight? No... if it were fat, it wouldn't be so firm. Perhaps muscle mass? She was on the track team, so having muscles wasn't that odd.

"Feliciano?" He was suddenly snapped out of his trance when he heard Elizabeta's voice from the other side of the door, sitting up and turned towards her as she opened the door and stepped in. "Ah, I thought you might be here. Checking up on Monika?"

"Si." he told her simply with a nod.

Elizabeta nodded and smiled softly. "Just be sure to give her some space, ja? So she can get rest if she needs it. She was pretty tired after lunch so she needs it."

"I will." Feliciano replied.

She seemed to be able to tell something was bothering him and closed the door behind her. "Is something the matter, Feli?"

"Not really..." he said. "Just a little... lost in thought, I suppose." He couldn't help but wonder, there were some foggy, hazy images in his head he saw. Things he had thought were merely dreams, though they were better described as nightmates. "Say, Lizzy?..." He looked back over at her, twiddling his thumbs in thought. "Do you remember... did I ever tell you about a bad dream I might've had before? Or... was there..." His eyes seemed a little glossed over. "Was there... an accident of some sort?... Here... at school..."

Elizabeta felt her heart sink a little, stomach flipping from worry. "I... well, not that I recall. If one happened, especially if it happened recently... I think we would remember that, wouldn't we?"

Feliciano nodded slightly. "Si, you're probably right..."

 _"Feli?..."_ A moment later, his concerns over the supposed memories were put aside when he heard Monika speak. He looked back over at her, seeing her eyes open halfway as she looked up at him. _"What's going on?..."_

"Nothing, nothing at all." Elizabeta told her gently. "I just came in to check on you and Feliciano. The garden needs some tending to, so you'll have some alone time for a while before dinner." None-too-subtly, she gave them a wink. "Just so you know."

They both blushed a little, knowing what she was getting at, before each gave a nod. "A-alright Lizzy, thank you." Monika responded.

"We should be back around five-thirty and dinner will be ready by six. Until then, have fun, ja? Maybe do a little homework." she said to them with a smile, though the three of them all seemed to know just what they were really to do with the next few hours to themselves. With that, Elizabeta took her leave and closed the door behind herself after she stepped out.

Monika blushed deeply and looked up at Feliciano, gulping softly. "S-so... I guess we're alone for a while. We... haven't had much alone time lately, have we?..."

Feliciano smirked suavely and leaned down, gently cupping her face in his hands. _"That's true... but, perhaps we can make up for that?~"_ he whispered.

She felt a bit warmer now, looking into his eyes and gave a soft nod. _"I'd like that..."_

* * *

It didn't take long for things to heat up between them. As soon as they kissed for the first time, they let it deepen and become a bit more playful before it grew more sensual. As energetic, child-like and carefree as he could sometimes be, Feliciano's more adult, sensual side could come out when they were alone.

Time merely melted away from them, the sunlight peeking into the room from the windows casting a a soft, orange glow over their bodies that had shed off their clothing not long ago. The blanket still covered Monika's stomach, feeling just a little chilly, and it kept her growing stomach hidden a bit as well. Though it didn't stop Feliciano from leaning down and giving her a kiss on it through the covers, making her gasp slightly, as if wondering he had an idea what the weight gain meant.

"You're getting a bit pudgy, aren't you?..." She felt her chest tighten a little, biting her lower lip and panting, looking down at him, trying not to show she was worried. He let out a soft giggle, easing her worries a bit, and looked up at her with a gentle smile. "Don't worry, you're still cute... always beautiful, too~" he whispered, his kisses and touches venturing further south now.

She gasped and whimpered a little from them, feeling like he was teasing her a little. _"Liebling... I need you."_ she whispered, looking at him with begging eyes now.

Feliciano smirked playfully, leaning up and kissing her jaw softly. "My pleasure, Amore." He took a glance in her eyes, asking, "You're still on the pill, right?... I haven't had any condoms for a while..."

A little white lie couldn't hurt during a moment like this, so she nodded. _"Y-yes, I am..."_ she whispered.

"Alright then." he said with a nod, positioning himself and soon joined their bodies together, a bit slowly to start off. As he saw her flinch slightly, hearing her whimper softly, he peppered kisses across her cheek and jaw, then down her neck. "Just relax... I'll make you feel wonderful, I promise."

Monika breathed shakily and nodded. _"J-ja..."_ she whispered, turning her head to let their lips meet.

He kissed her softly but passionately, moving in her gently to start off, their flushed bodies red and warm against one another. Skin against skin, hands running over where they wanted to, sometimes to where they dared to. The touches earning gasps, shivers, moans; any sort of sound that made it show it gave them pleasure. It was sensual, just the two of them, showing their love for each other.

However long they were like that it didn't matter. When they were finished, they were finished. Skin a bit moist, hair plastered against their foreheads, arms wrapped around each other and legs tangled with one another's. Monika's head laid against his chest, Feliciano gently stroking her hair.

"Monika?"

She looked up at him, her eyes gentle and warm. "Yes, Feli?" she asked softly.

He smiled at her, leaning down and kissed her forehead. "I love you... I feel so lucky to have you."

Her chest fluttered a bit, able to forget for now what was going on in the world around them for now. The corners of her mouth upturned into a smile as well, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have you, Liebe. I love you so much..."

With a little time to spare, they slept. When they awoke, they each went to shower and dressed themselves. Upon returning to the club room, they saw the others already there, preparing dinner for them.

It was nice to have a bit of alone time, just the two of them, but now they were happy to be with their friends again.

* * *

 **EDIT: My bad for the delayed update, I meant to post this chapter last Wednesday. For now I'll either update every Wednesday or every other Wednesday. Thanks everyone who's read so far, I know this isn't the best story. I just write it for fun and as a stress-reliever more then anything else. I do hope to keep continuing it though, as I just finished with chapter 13.**

 **Thank you again for reading so far. I hope the next chapter will illuminate a little more to the plot.**

 **Till then,**

 **Canadia**


	8. Chapter 8: Feli's Fainting Spell

_**Chapter 8: Feli's Fainting Spell**_

* * *

That night, after dinner had been cleaned up and Lovino was doing the dishes, Feliciano sat down at the table with Monika and Elizabeta to listen to what he had written for his essay.

He held his notebook in his hands, starting to read it aloud.

" _ **The School-Living Club of Hetalia Gakuen Academy was formed about four months ago. Our advisors are Roderich and Elizabeta Edelstein, and our club members include myself, my brother Lovino, Antonio Carriedo, Kiku Honda, and my lovely girlfriend, Monika Beilschmidt. My cat Pookie is also a part of the club, but since she's not a student she isn't really an official member. The purpose of our club is to enjoy student life to the fullest by living at the school. Unless it is approved by our head advisor, Roderich, we cannot leave the school for any reason. For example, when we need food, we buy it from the cafeteria and we cook it ourselves. Or we buy it from the school store, but if there's things that they don't sell we can request to go out on a club outing so we can stock up on such things. On our last outing, we found Pookie and were given permission for her to be our club mascot. Even though we are not permitted to leave the school without permission, sometimes I almost forget about going back to the club room after school instead of leaving to go back home. But most of the time, I run into one of the others and they remind me not to leave.**_

 _ **Lately, I have loved being at school and going to classes. It may sound strange to someone else, but school is awesome. The physics room has all of those weird devices, the music room has beautiful instruments and portaits that sometimes look intimidating and scary, and in the broadcasting room, all of the world is your stage! Everything we need is here, it's so well-equipped and like we're our own country. A school like this is very special, that's why I enjoy spending so much time here with everyone I love the most. We enjoy our school life so much that we live here day in, and day out.**_

 _ **To a lot of other students, a life like this might sound rather boring, but as my grandfather always says,**_ _'One man's boredom is another man's contentment. So to each men his own.'_ "

As they listened, Monika smiled a little, Elizabeta as well. However as Feliciano was about to continue, they heard a soft clap of thunder and blinked. Feliciano looked over to the window distractedly, still holding his notebook in his hands, though his grip now seemed a bit looser then before. "It's raining... that's weird, I thought Roddy told me it wasn't supposed to rain this week." he said, going over to the window and looked outside.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Professor Edel-"

"Ah, well, you know," Elizabeta began, holding up a hand and waved it slightly. "Sometimes the weather is finicky like that. Not everything can be predicted... and a little rain never hurt anyone before, ja?..."

Feliciano nodded a bit. " _I guess so..._ " he replied, looking down outside and could see students on sports teams - or so he thought - starting to make their way to the building, or storage sheds or outdoor bathrooms. " _They must be practicing late again... I can see some of the sports clubs running for cover._ "

Lovino was silent for a moment, giving a small nod. "Si, I bet they are. Not like it'd do them any good to practice in the rain..."

Feliciano's hands started trembling, the hold on his notebook releasing completely and it fell down onto the floor. He suddenly wrapped his arms around himself and held himself tightly, feeling weak in the knees. "Feli? Feli darling, what's wrong?" Elizabeta asked worriedly, standing up and going over to him.

* * *

 _ **"NO, NO WE HAVE TO OPEN THE DOOR! RODDY IS STILL OUTSIDE, RODDY IS STILL OUTSIDE!"**_

 _ **"Feliciano no, we can't! We can't, I'm sorry we can't!"**_

 _ **"Big Brother, please! Open the door, OPEN THE DOOR, JUST PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!"**_

A thump was heard against the door, Feliciano's arms unable to reach for the knob in his state, being held back by Antonio and Lovino both. Coughing and something dripping against tiles faintly made way to their ears. _"Just... leave me here... s-save yourselves... it's too late for me..."_

 _ **"No! No Roddy, no! Please, let us out! We can make you better, we can make sure you get better!"**_

 _"I can't... r-risk your lives like that... I-I'm sorry..."_ Roderich uttered, his vision starting to go black, hearing the creatures approaching, closing in on his location. His hand clutched uselessly at the deep, bleeding bite wound in his side, his glasses having fallen off, on the floor on the other side of the door he refused to let anyone open. _"I'm no good to you like this... it's only a matter of time for me. But just r-remember... I love you all... I do, I really, really do..."_ He coughed, red liquid splattering from his lips and across the floor in front of him. _"And I'm so happy... I was able to be your teacher."_ he uttered with a faint smile before his world went black. He fell limp against the door, sliding down until he was no longer standing. Violet eyes stared unblinking and lifeless as the creatures surrounded him.

Unspeakable sounds were heard on the other side of the door as Feliciano tried to shriek, only to have two hands covering his mouth to keep them quiet so they wouldn't be heard before he was dragged up the stairwell, his heart pounding and tears streaming down his face.

That was the last thing he remembered until he blacked out.

* * *

Feliciano's eyes snapped open wide with a loud gasp and he bolted up into a sitting position, breathing heavily, a damp cloth falling off of his forehead.

" _Feli! Feli sweetie, it's okay!_ " he heard Elizabeta say, wrapping her arms around him and immediately, his erratic breathing started to even out, scared brown eyes looking up at her. Elizabeta let out a soft, relieved sigh and gave him a small smile. " _It's alright_... you fainted in the club room earlier. You have a bit of a fever."

 _"Did I?..."_ Feliciano asked a bit confused. _"Hm... but I didn't feel weird or anything..."_

"Don't worry sweetheart, it happens sometimes. Maybe you just tired yourself out a little more then usual today." Elizabeta told him gently.

Feliciano nodded slightly, his breathing softening now. " _... Like the day we went on an outing._ "

Elizabeta tried to stay calm when he said that, knowing very well what happened that day. She nodded slightly. "I know, sweetie... the boys told me about it. They said you fainted when you were walking back up to the club room..."

"... Lizzy? Did something happen that day?... I had a weird dream... a really bad one... maybe I had it when I fainted, but I thought I had it again just now... sort of like a dream, but if felt like a memory." Feliciano said softly.

Elizabeta took a small breath and let it out, but before she could reply she heard Feliciano give out a soft, "Hm?" He then looked up over her shoulder as if he saw someone there. "Oh, Roddy! I didn't hear you come in... did you come to see if I'm okay?" A moment later he smiled and giggled slightly. "Thanks, Roddy... I'm feeling a bit better now. I hope the others aren't too worried either..."

Elizabeta felt her chest tighten a bit, but she smiled slightly and gently rubbed his back a bit. "Don't worry, they're okay. But it's almost time for bed, some of them are taking a shower. Moni's in the other room washing the dishes, but I can go get her. Maybe some cuddling will make you feel better." she said with a small smile.

Feliciano smiled a bit and he nodded, but a moment later he blinked and started to splutter. " _R-Roddy I swear, I wasn't thinking of anything inappropriate!_ "

"Don't mind him, he's just overly protective." Elizabeta said, shaking her head slightly with a soft chuckle. She then let him go, making sure he was alright and picked up the wet cloth. "Go on and lie back down, relax a little more and you can change into your jammies when the guys come back."

Feliciano nodded slightly, laying back down on his futon and pulled his Rilakkuma into his arms. "Yes Lizzy." he said as she picked up his blanket and placed it back over him, then put the cloth back on his forehead. "Grazie."

"You're welcome darling." she said with a small smile, running her hand over his hair before she stood up and smoothed out her skirt before she left the room.

A moment later, her heart sank a little as she heard him through the door, saying, "Thank you too, Roddy. I'm feeling better now... you can go shower if you want to, I'll be fine on my own for a bit."

Elizabeta reached into her shirt, grasping onto the wedding rings on a chain around her neck. One of them was smaller then the other, each with an engraving in German about love. She looked at them in her palm for a moment before holding them in her grip now. However, she decided to walk away from the door so Feliciano wouldn't hear her. As soon as she was down the hall a bit, she let out a shaky breath and started to sniffle. Her jaw trembled slightly and she tried not to sob, keeping her crying quiet for now, letting the rings fall against her chest befoer she covered her eyes with her hands.

A moment later, she headed to the roof, finding the patch of dirt behind the tool shed. Made from two pieces of wood nailed together and painted white, there was a cross sticking up from it. Around it was a familiar white neck ruffle, like the ones Roderich wore. Elizabeta knelt down in front of the cross, reaching for a piece of incense and lit it, sticking it in the dirt a few feet in front of the cross. She placed her hands together and bowed her head, closing her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.

A small wind blew, making the ruffled tie flutter a bit, blowing a bit of smoke from the incense in the same direction, the scent of lilacs meeting Elizabeta's nose. For a moment, she could picture her Austrian husband sitting by the open window at their home, playing the grand piano; the sun was shining, the birds were singing in the trees, and there were lilacs blooming just outside the window. Their scent would waft into the house, giving off a pleasant smell as Roderich's fingers danced over the ivory keys to create an equally beautiful sound.

Elizabeta allowed a few stray tears to fall from her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to break down in tears. She had to be strong... she had to keep herself from sobbing. Roderich had been her rock for so long... but now, she had to find a way to survive without him.

If she couldn't, then there was nothing she could do for the kids.

* * *

I have been waiting to post this chapter from the very beginning... I'm very proud of it. And if you're a fan of School-Live, you know what this was inspired by.

So, until next week, that's it for now.


	9. Chapter 9: Planning For The Future

_**Chapter 9: Planning For The Future**_

* * *

Lovino sighed, running a hand through his hair. Feliciano had scampered out of the room a short time ago; despite his small fever and having fainted the night before, his appetite wasn't at all affected and he felt well enough to go to classes. He slept like a baby that night, however... the other boys stood guard by the locked stairwell barricade. It seemed unlikely, but they wanted to make sure the overnight rain wouldn't cause more zombies to swarm into the building. That was what had happened when they returned from their club outing; it was a Sunday and the school was practically empty. However they returned that evening and as they walked up the stairwell, which was generally empty, their guard was down and the door burst open on the second floor, a hoarde of the creatures going towards them.

But without thinking, Roderich threw himself in front of everyone, taking several blows and bites immediately, yelling at them to run up to the top floor. He pushed all of the creatures through the door and locked it behind him.

That was when Feliciano started screaming and crying, trying to get them to open the door and get him... but it had been too late.

"His memory is starting to come back..." Elizabeta said quietly, breaking the silence.

Everyone else was still quiet, though most of them each sighed. "Psychogenic retrograde amnesia. Sometimes triggered by extreme emotional or psychological stress." Kiku said. "In his case... it was caused by us witnessing Roderich being attacked. And... not being able to help him."

"But if he thought it was a memory and not a dream, why wouldn't we tell him?" Lovino said. "I... I know it's best for him to learn gradually, but... it isn't just Roderich he suppressed. He suppressed everything that's happened since the epidemic."

"It isn't healthy for him mentally to do that." Kiku replied. "If his real memories are exposed to him too suddenly, he may not remember it or recognize it as real at all. He has to ease back into it on his own, though we can aid him without plunging him into the pool of truth right away."

"So we're still where we were a few months ago..." Lovino said with a sigh. "We have to let him realize what's going on, gradually, on his own... and then he'll be upset that he forgot everything. That Roderich... and especially, forgetting he's going to be a father! Because what are we going to do in a few months when the baby comes?" he asked. "Just - tell him we randomly found a baby and now we have to take care of it? Or tell him Liz and Roddy adopted it? But what if when he's holding it, he accidentally tries to hand it over to Roderich?"

"We know, Lovi." Elizabeta said. "But... we have to take this one day at a time. Especially since... well, we have to figure out a plan on what we'll do when we have to get out of here. The power supply may not last forever... if there's ever a lightning storm, there could be damage to the electricty reserves. At least if there's ever a direct strike somewhere to the roof. Not to mention if something happens to the water... and the food downstairs can only last so long."

Antonio nodded, leaning against the wall. "Well... at least we have the mini-van. If we can... we should probably plan on moving out of here when Monika gets to her seventh or eighth month. We need to find someone or somewhere to safely deliver the baby..."

Monika looked down at her stomach, her head still whirling quite a bit. After a moment she stood up. "I think I need to go lie down for a bit..." she said quietly before she crossed to the door, not saying anything if anyone spoke to her. Though they didn't.

Lovino sighed, glancing out the window now. "Kiku... is your laptop still in your bag? It's a long shot, but... we should try to see if we can connect to the Internet and send an email or something to someone outside of the country. If we can do that, maybe we can also pull up a map of the town and country. If there's somewhere around here we can go to, maybe somewhere more secure, we can go to there. Maybe a hospital... or the college."

Kiku nodded. "I'll go get it."

* * *

It was practically a miracle in itself, but when Kiku booted up his laptop the wi-fi signal had three bars. Three out of six bars. That was amazing, as they had barely gotten one bar most of the time and it tended to cut out.

They had no time to lose, they had already recorded a video on the laptop's webcam and looked up an email to the United Nations, finding several and sent it to each of them. Luckily as the emails were sending, they also looked up a map of the area and connected it to the teacher's lounge in the other room, printing it out successfully before the internet signal cut out.

"Well," Lovino said with a soft sigh. "That was way more then we could hope for. It'll be a miracle if this hasn't spread worldwide... but hopefully, this will catch the UN's attention. If there's still an internet signal, no matter how weak it is... then that means there may be hope for any of the survivors around here."

Kiku nodded, powering down his computer after a moment. "Hai... hopefully it does." It pained him to think of it, but he wanted to vocalize it. "And... hopefully it means that there's still a chance that Yao is alright."

Elizabeta felt her heart sink a little bit, slowly crossing over to the Japanese boy and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Don't worry, Kiku-chan... we'll know sooner or later." she told him, gently running her fingers over his hair.

"Si, don't worry, I'm sure Yao is fine. The college is even more secure then here!" Antonio said encouragingly, patting him on the back. "I'm sure Yao and Ivan are both fine and well... they're probably waiting for rescue as well."

Lovino nodded as well. "Si... and now that we have the map, we can see if we can form a plan to get to the college. If we can get there, maybe we can find other survivors. And hopefully... find a way to get out of here."

Elizabeta nodded, gently kissing Kiku atop of his head. "Ja. For now, let's go tend the garden. Later on we can look at the map and come up with a plan."

Kiku was still a bit quiet, but he nodded. "Alright..."

* * *

Sorry, short chapter, mostly filler-ish.

I might upload the next chapter in a few days though to compensate for this. If not, see you next week!


	10. Chapter 10: A Test Of Courage

_**Chapter 10: A Test Of Courage - Wandering The School At Night**_

* * *

It was lunch time and Elizabeta was helping Antonio with the cooking, Lovino was setting the table and Kiku turned off the television after trying to find a working channel. Every now and then they would check a radio or the television for some sort of signals, but they came up empty-handed every time.

Monika had been resting for the majority of the day so far, so she arrived in the club room shortly before Feliciano did. A few minutes later, Feliciano's footsteps were heard and he opened the door, holding Pookie in one of his arms and smiled, giving everyone a wave. "I'm'a back, everyone! And I've got a great idea for a club activity!" he announced. Pookie let out a happy meow, as if she were as enthusiastic as him.

"Really now?" Lovino asked with a slightly amused chuckle, looking over at him. "What is it?"

Feliciano smiled and slid the door shut behind him, setting Pookie down so she could go to her food bowl. "A test of courage! When night falls and it gets dark, we sneak around the school in the dark and see what it looks like."

"A test of courage..." Elizabeta mulled over the thought for only a moment. "Well, what does Roderich think?"

"He thought it was a good idea! So long as we're quiet, we can do it. Do you think they'll give us the permission to do it?" Feliciano asked.

They all shared a few looks and gazes for a moment, but they knew it wouldn't be dangerous to go down during the night. There were hardly any of those creatures at night... if there were they were always in certain areas so they could easily navigate away from them. After a moment, they all gave small, reassuring smiles and Elizabeta turned her head back to Feliciano with a nod. "Sure, not a problem. Roddy and I can do the paperwork to make sure we can get the permission. Besides, we're the only ones ever here all night, so we're not likely to disturb anyone. But you have to stick to the route we give you, so we don't get lost or separated."

Feliciano smiled brightly and nodded. "Si, alright Miss Lizzy!"

Monika shifted a little in her seat and looked down. "I'm not feeling that well today... I think I'll have to sit this one out."

"Aw, my poor Amore..." Feliciano said with a pout, going over to her and hugged her around the shoulders. "Don't worry, we'll have enough fun for us all and tell you everything that happened, okay?"

She smiled softly and nodded. "Alright then, thanks Feli."

* * *

Antonio and Lovino had pushed the desks against one side of the hallway in the corridor so they could get to the stairs, not unlocking the chain and padlock until Feliciano was coming with Elizabeta and Kiku. They each had their backpacks, flashlights and something to fight off the creatures if they needed to. Antonio had his shovel, Lovino had the bat and Kiku had his wooden sword.

Feliciano had reluctantly left Pookie with Monika, after Elizabeta told him it wasn't a good idea for a cat to wander the school so freely in case a student had very severe allergies. But none the less, he was happy enough to be going out on their club activity. When he saw the others there holding weapons, he blinked a little in confusion. "What are all those for?"

Lovino smirked, shining his flashlight on his own face. "In case we run into ghosts or other creatures of the night, _ooooooo~_ "

Feliciano jumped slightly and squealed, holding onto Elizabeta tightly now and whimpered. "F-Fratello, don't scare me like that!" he pouted.

"Ja, we mustn't make too much noise." Elizabeta said, stroking his hair slightly and looked at the others. "So no scaring each other, ja?" They all nodded, Feliciano giggled and smiled triumphantly. "That goes for you too, Feli." she said, looking down at him.

"A-ah, si, si of course Miss Lizzy!" Feliciano spluttered after a moment, as if he were surprised by that proposition.

"You were gonna try and scare us, weren't you Fratellino?~" Lovino asked with a chuckle. "Don't dish it out if you can't take it."

"Alright, alright... let's call a truce, si?" Feliciano said, holding out his hand.

Lovino rolled his eyes slightly but chuckled, reaching out and shook his hand slightly. "Si, si, truce. Now, let's go then."

As they were walking down the dark stairwell, Antonio up front shining his flashlight, Feliciano spoke in a hushed tone, " _I've got a great idea on something we can do when we get back to the club room!_ "

" _Oh? What is it, Sempai?_ " Kiku asked quietly.

Feliciano giggled softly. " _You'll have to wait and see, that'll make getting through the test of courage more fun!~_ " he replied.

" _Alright Feli, now keep quiet, alright?_ " Elizabeta asked as they approached the door to the floor beneath theirs. " _In case there's ghosts or other things wandering about... we can't attract them, ja?_ "

Feliciano nodded with a soft, " _Mm-hm!_ " before looking back ahead of themselves.

Antonio and Lovino listened for a moment before opening the door, finding nothing on the other side. One of them looked one way down the hallway, the other the other way, both looking at each other and nodding when they didn't see or hear anything. Lovino turned to the others, motioning with his hand for them to follow and they were off down the hallway towards the school store. Elizabeta had the key to it, unlocking it when they got there. There wasn't anything in there, since they had been in it before tonight, to get certain supplies they needed. They always locked it behind themselves to make sure nothing could get inside.

Once they were inside, they shut the door and turned on the lights. "Alright, first stop. Everyone, stock up on what we need, ja?" Elizabeta said. "And we all need something as proof that we ventured out for the test."

"Si! And I'll get something for Monika too." Feliciano said with a nod. "So she won't feel left out."

"Alright, good idea." Elizabeta told him with a nod, before Feliciano went looking around. "Don't worry about how much something costs, I'll pay for it, ja? With our club funds." she said, having a bit of money in her hand to leave on the counter to keep up the charade they had to pay for everything.

"Are you sure Miss Lizzy?" Feliciano asked.

"Of course, don't worry about it. We are supposed to spend our club funds on club supplies anyway." she told him.

"Okay then!" Feliciano said.

As Feliciano focused on getting some treats and things for them all, the others focused on what they needed. Elizabeta got some blank notebooks, pencils, pens, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and other things like that. Lovino took some food, clean uniforms and books. Antonio took some other gardening supplies and seeds, picking up a hoe and a new shovel as well.

"We can put some of the heavier things in the stairwell to bring them back up with us after. So we don't have to lug everything around. We still need to stop in at the library." Elizabeta told them.

 _ **"Oh my gosh, look at this!"**_ Lovino blinked and went over to where Feli was, his fight or flight instincts flaring up just in case something was there that shouldn't be. When he was there though, Feliciano just smiled and held up a pack of balloons. "Look, they blow up into shapes! Don't they look like fun?"

Lovino furrowed his brow a little. "Next time don't be so loud. You might make a ghost appear!" he scolded him.

Feliciano blinked a little but nodded. _"Roger that, Fratello!"_ he said in a hushed voice.

Elizabeta couldn't help but chuckle slightly... even a small moment like this helped with cheering them up. Feliciano was a welcome ray of sunshine in the world that had turned to hell around them. "I think we have what we need for now. Does everyone have their proof for the test of courage?" she asked, looking around at all them.

Antonio nodded, Lovino as well, Feliciano giggling and zippering his backpack closed as he came up towards the counter with them. Hiding the treats and snacks he wanted to surprise them with later. "Si Miss Lizzy."

"Alright." she said with a nod, setting down the money on the counter before going to the door with them again. "Next stop is the library. Now no one go wandering off, we never know what could be around here at night, ja?" she asked with a playful smile, looking at Feli in particular before she shut off the lights.

With the school store locked up now, they went back down the hall, putting their heavier things in the stairwell to bring upstairs with them later. They then went down the opposite hall as before, to head downstairs to the library. The stairwell to the next floor down was also clear, and hopefully the floor below was mostly clear for the night. When they went down to the cafeteria or school store for supplies, they usually came down at night and at most only came across one or two creatures. They were easy to deal with in small numbers.

"Now remember, the library doesn't have power for the lights right now. So be careful and don't go waving your flashlight around willy nilly, ja?" Elizabeta told them, looking at Feliciano specifically again.

"Si Miss Lizzy, understood." Lovino said with a nod, Antonio as well.

"Alright then, here we go." Elizabeta said as she opened the door, holding up her flashlight and turned it on, walking inside and started looking at some of the shelves. "Alright... let's find the books we need now, ja?"

"Okay. I wanna get lots of manga!" Feliciano pipped, but kept his voice mostly quiet too.

"Oh really? With how poor your Math and History grades have been?" Antonio asked with a soft _tsk_ , shaking his head and chuckled. "I'm going to get us some text books with exercises to help you with studying, okay?"

"A-ah... alright, Toni..." Feliciano said, deflating slightly. "But I'm still gonna get some manga!" he said before he raced off towards the section where he knew the manga was.

Lovino sighed, hanging his head a little. "Well... at least we know it's clear in here. So long as he doesn't make too much noise it should be fine."

* * *

Feliciano had dragged a chair to the shelf he needed to reach, picking out some _Haruhi Suzumiya_ , _Ouran High School Host Club_ , and _Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni_. But as he was stepping off of the chair, he blinked and said, "Huh? What is it Roddy?" before he suddenly froze. He heard groaning and rustling against a door...

He zippered his backpack closed, put it back on his shoulders, and then peeked out from the end of the book case, looking right and then left. He shined his flashlight down each way, and when he looked left he saw a closet at the end of the room. " _H-hello?... Is someone th-_ " He suddenly cut himself off with a gasp, hiding behind the book case again. He then nodded. " _Y-yes Roddy, I'll be quiet... should I go check it out?... Ah, wait that's right... School Living Club members can't go anywhere on their own. Should I go tell the others?... Okay, I will._ "

Feliciano dimmed down his flashlight a little, feeling a little scared but didn't want to attract a ghost or anything. When he found the others he breathed a sigh of relief, then went over to Elizabeta and flung his arms around her. "Miss Lizzy, I heard something weird!" he told her. "I think someone locked a ghost in the closet... and they're trying to get out!"

Elizabeta's eyes widened a little but she started running her fingers gently over his hair. "O-oh, alright darling... don't worry, the boys will go check it out - wait, you didn't open the door, did you?"

"No. Roddy told me not to do that alone because we're not supposed to act alone." Feliciano replied.

Elizabeta looked around at the others, each of them looking at one another as well, nodding. "We have everything we came from. You guys go wait for us at the stairs, we'll go take care of the... _ghost~_ " Lovino said, shining his flashlight on his face when he said ghost, looking at Feliciano with a spooky face.

Feliciano all but yelped, luckily muffling it against Lizzy's chest. "Lovi, no scaring your brother right now, ja?" Elizabeta scolded him.

"Alright, alright, sorry, my bad..." Lovino replied with a sigh. "Don't worry, we can handle the... ghost."

* * *

Lovino and Kiku stood a distance's way from the closet, near the window, Antonio near the closet door to open it when they were ready. Kiku held his wooden sword in hand, Antonio his used shovel and Lovino held his baseball bat in his hands, ready to strike when need be.

 _"On three,"_ Lovino said just loud enough for them all to hear, holding up three fingers. They both nodded, and he counted up to three with his fingers, then pointed toward the door for Antonio to open it now. The Spaniard nodded, sliding it open and then backed far away and against the wall, out of the creature's line of sight. Sure enough, slowly a zombie stumbled out now, a deathly groan coming from their throat.

Kiku shined their flashlight at it, all of them seeing it was a male, not that they cared what it was or not. Sure enough, the light was enough to catch its attention. The zombie slowly turned and started to slump its way towards the other two. When it was halfway between Antonio and the other two, Lovino suddenly lunged forwards and took a hard swing, hitting it in the head with a hard, squishy sounded thud. Sure enough it fell to the ground, moving around a little like it was trying to get up again, but before it could Antonio ran right for it and shoved the blade of the shovel at its neck, blood spurting forth and gathering in a pool around it.

"Perfectly executed," Lovino said.

"As always." Antonio replied. "Now let's get rid of this thing, Kiku unlock the window, then let's clean up the mess as best as we can for now."

* * *

Elizabeta sat on the stairs with Feliciano, carefully holding the boy in her arms. He was a little afraid, but he tried not to show it even though he was keeping his eyes shut tightly.

A little while later, when the door opened and a light flashed onto them, Feliciano yelped and jumped a bit. But then he looked up and saw it was the other three again. "Ah, wow! You guys caught the ghost already?"

"Not exactly," Antonio replied as they closed the door behind them, picking up their things. "It was a student, they fell asleep in there and didn't know anyone was there. We escorted him downstairs... but, we did see a ghost _on our way past the computer lab!~_ " he said, shining the flashlight on his face with a spooky expression.

And it caused Feliciano to jump in fright and practically race his way up the stairs so they could get back to the fourth floor. _**"Okay, test of courage over let's go hooooooooome!"**_

Just as quickly as it happened they were left stunned for a moment. Then, all at once, they burst out into laughter, holding their sides, happy just that the stairwell was safe and there weren't any other creatures around them.

"Wow, talk about not being able to stay through the whole thing! It was his idea too!" Lovino said through bouts of lauughter.

Soon enough, they gathered themselves and calmed down, hoping their excessive noise hadn't attracted anything. So they headed upstairs, finding Feliciano already waiting for them on the other side of the door. He brightened up and smiled at them, standing up now. "Thanks so much you guys! The test of courage was even funner then I expected! Even if I did get scared, but I guess that's why they call it a test of courage! That what makes it even more memorable."

Elizabeta smiled softly, gently stroking his hair again now. "You're welcome Feli. Now why don't we go check on Monika?"

Feliciano nodded. "Yes Miss Lizzy!"


	11. Chapter 11: The Club Camp-Out

_**Chapter 11: The Club Camp-Out**_

* * *

When Elizabeta took Feliciano to go see Monika, the other three locked the doors again, making sure the lock was secure, then put the desk barrier back in front of them. They returned their weapons to the classroom they kept them in, and with their supplies in their backpacks they went back to the club room. Feliciano was already telling Monika about the ghosts and how he had gotten scared, but it was fun because getting scared was a part of the test of courage! Monika listened to him with a small smile on her face, laughing softly a bit at times. "Sounds like it was fun. Sorry I had to miss it though..."

"Oh, don't feel bad Moni! In fact I have a surprise for you!"

Lovino chuckled as he saw Feliciano slip off his Rilakkuma backpack and started rummaging through it, hearing the tell-tale sounds of various plastic-wrapped and plastic-packaged treats and snacks. "Before you forget though, what was the idea for an activity we can all do now that the test of courage is over?"

"Oh, that's right!" Feliciano said, taking his hands from his backpack and smiled triumphantly. "As part of my plan, I got some things that we'd need for this idea! So what's a great way to end a day after a test of courage?"

"Dunno. What is it?" Lovino asked.

"A-aw, no one wants to guess?..." Feliciano pouted.

"Why don't you tell us first?" Elizabeta asked.

"Well... okay." Feliciano said with a smile. "Tests of courage are usually a part of a school field trip, so let's act like we're on a field trip! Let's camp in a tent tonight!"

Lovino stared for a moment, silent, his face dead-panned. "... Where did you get an idea like that?"

"Aw, it isn't a good idea?" Feliciano asked with a pout. "I thought it would be fun! Like how telling campfire stories is a fun way to get scared, like during a test of courage! We can sleep in sleeping bags and tents, and pretend we're camping out in the forest!"

"Actually, it sounds kind of fun." Kiku said after a moment and smiled. "Although we might not be able to camp outside... it looks like it might rain overnight." he said, looking out the window and saw the clouds in the sky against the moon and stars.

"Oh..." Feliciano deflated a little.

After a moment, Elizabeta smiled softly. "Well, why don't we camp in the club room tonight?" she suggested. "We have a few tents and sleeping bags in the storage closet, and we can camp on the roof when the weather clears up."

"Really?" Feliciano asked excitedly. "That sounds great! Oh! And I can show you guys my surprise for camping out soon too!" he said, bouncing excitedly on his feet.

"Alright then, I guess that's settled." Antonio said with a soft chuckle. "Feli why don't you and Monika get the things we need from the lounge, then we can put the table and chairs against the wall and set up the tents."

"Okay then!" Feliciano said with a nod.

"Toni, will you come with me to get the tents and sleeping bags?" Elizabeta asked.

"Sure thing, Lizzy."Antonio replied.

"Lovi and I will start clearing the room." Kiku said.

"Alright everyone, let's hop to!" Antonio said a bit enthusiastically, clapping his hands a bit to his words.

* * *

Not long later, once everything was set up, they divided themselves into tents and changed into pajamas. Feliciano, Monika and Elizabeta were in one tent and Antonio, Lovino and Kiku were in the other tent, also pretending that Roderich was in the tent with them so he wouldn't bother Feli all night. Hopefully.

After they were all set up and "unpacked" for their camping trip, Feliciano came out from his tent with his backpack and plush Rilakkuma, grinned and opened his bag to reveal all of the snacks and treats he bought at the school store, in particular holding up everything they needed to make s'mores. Antonio brought over the hot plate for them to use to heat them up with so they wouldn't need to turn on the stove, everyone happily laughing and chatting as they made the s'mores and ate them and some of the other snacks.

A little while later, when they were done with making s'mores, Antonio unplugged the hot plate and put it back on the counter and Lovino went to the light switch, flicking it off and turned on their electric lantern. With a smirk and a chuckle he went back to the group and sat down, putting the lantern down in the middle of their circle. "I think it's time for this camp-out to move on to the next phase... _campfire stories~_ " he said in a spooky voice.

Feliciano visibly started shaking with fright and held his Rilakkuma tightly in his arms, Monika wrapping one of her arms around him to help him stay a little calmer. " _S-s-si, that sounds like f-fun!_ " he said with a half-smile.

"Alright then... who's first?" Lovino asked, looking around the room at the others. Antonio looked like he was thinking and Kiku was scratching his cheek in thought. "I'll go first, then." he said with a spooky smirk. "Once, there was a beautiful young woman who was very in love with her fiancé. Her name was Cynthia Snell, and she eagerly awaited the day that she could marry him. It was all she dreamed about, and when their wedding day finally arrived, she waited in the church at the alter for him to arrive. Hours and hours passed, and when night fell she realized that she had been left at the alter. The next morning, she found out that he didn't show up because he fell in love with her sister. That very day, the day after he was supposed to marry Cynthia, he married Cynthia's sister, further breaking her heart. When night fell, Cynthia went to her closet and took out her wedding dress. She changed into the dress her ex-fiancé broke her heart in, and went to her basement where she found a big, sharp ax. Carrying it in her hands, she went to her sister's house, finding that her sister and new husband were asleep beside one another upstairs in the bedroom. Cynthia stared at them, her eyes filled with disdain, finding that their clothes were littered about the room. A wedding dress, veil and garter belonging to her sister, as well as lingerie, and the groom's tuxedo scattered around on the floor too. Her anger and hate soon boiled to the surface, and she lifted her ax up above her head. A moment later she swung it downwards, landing a blow on her former fiancé. A sharp, blunt sound of cracking bones and hacking into flesh sounded out, blood spurting from his chest, his wife awakened to the sight of Cynthia bringing the ax down a second time, decapitating him and covering her and her sister in blood, effectively killing the man who broke her heart. Her sister let out a glass-shattering scream, a scream so loud it woke the surrounding neighbors around them, each of them scrambling to alert the police. Cynthia blocked her sister from leaving the room, standing in front of the door to the bedroom, with eyes as cold as ice, lifting the ax once more and swung. Her sister fell to her knees before toppling over onto the floor, dead, bleeding from her neck and chest."

Lovino paused for a moment, looking around at the others, seeing Kiku looked a bit scared and Feliciano was shaking with wide eyes, looking like a frightened child clinging to his teddy bear.

"When the police arrived twenty minutes later, they broke down the door and stormed into the house up to the bedroom, where they found the grizzly display. In the corner of the room, sitting in a rocking chair beside the window, sat Cynthia covered in blood, clutching the dead man's head in her arms. Her eyes were full of fire and hate, but there was a small, unidentifiable smile on her face, hauntingly humming the wedding march. The policemen were frozen at the sight of her, a small woman dressed in white, almost too shocked to believe that she had committed such a barbaric act of murder. When she rose to her feet, they rushed to get to her, but it was too late. She threw the man's severed head at them and turned around, jumping at the window and the glass gave way, shattering from the impact and she fell from the window, down, down to the ground and then... a loud thud sounded when her body impacted down to the ground. Moments later, as she died, her humming quieted down as well, the wedding march fading away, echoing in the midnight breeze..." Lovino smirked a little more now before he continued. "The following day, all three of them were buried. A year later, on the anniversary of their deaths, at midnight in the cemetary in which they wer buried, a guard swore he could hear the sound of Cynthia's voice; humming, humming away... year after year, someone always claimed to hear her voice from beyond the grave, humming the wedding march on the anniversary of the day she died."

There was a moment of tense silence, but then everyone jumped when suddenly, they heard humming of the wedding march. Even Lovino jumped, Feliciano scrambling and shrieked a little as well. Then, Antonio chuckled and scratched his cheek a bit. "Ah, I'm sorry... Feli are you alright?"

Feliciano sighed shakily in relief, but held his Rilakkuma in a tight grip as if his life depended on it. _"S-s-si, I'm'a alright, Toni... grazie..."_

Lovino started laughing, leaning back on his hands a little now. "Ah man, you should have seen the look on your face Fratello - you're such a scaredy cat!"

Feliciano pouted a little more again. "Fratellone, you're such a meanie-head..."

"As fun as scary stories can be, we might want to keep them a bit tamer now Lovi, ja?" Elizabeta instructed. "We shouldn't make too much noise or scare each other too bad or else we might not sleep well now."

"Si, sorry Miss Lizzy." Lovino said softly, scratching his cheek slightly. "Well who'd like to go next then?"

Looking around a little at the others now, Kiku then rose his hand. "I've got one."

"Is there blood and stuff in this one?..." Feliciano asked.

"No, it's more so just supernatural then horror." Kiku responded. Glancing his eyes towards the window, seeing the vague shape of the skyline in the inky darkness of the night time. "It's about a girl, who lived all alone in a world that had ended."

Feliciano blinked in intrigue, listening intently for Kiku to begin his story.

"Once upon a time, there lived a lone girl. The world she once knew had ended, and she was left to wander on her own for some time. The only companion she had left was a teddy bear bestowed upon her by her parents when she was a child. Every day she went walking around the same places she usually did, hoping to find another sign of life. Sometimes she did, in the form of birds and other wild animals, but rarely did she find hope that her life would restore to the way it was. She lived her life carefree in a way, but was lonlier then she had ever been before. She would go to stores, pretending to browse or buy things, go to bookstores to find new things to read, and continued to study as if she still attended school. On days where not a cloud was to be seen in the sky, her eyes raked through it desperately to find any signs of others." Kiku's voice was a bit soft, almost melancholy as he spoke, though his tone enthralled the others. Feliciano's eyes looked like they were shining softly with forming tears, but he listened with rapt attention. "Three years had passed before finally, one day when she was tending to her vegetable garden a long-forgotten but familiar sound hit her ears. It was the sound of a car coming up the road, and hurriedly she ran from behind her house and waved her arms at it. When it stopped, a boy not much older then her came out. They were both quiet for some time, neither of them having spoken to another human being for years, before they began to speak. Giving each other their names, and upon being introduced to one another, smiled. They cried and laughed, elated to have finally crossed paths."

Feliciano sniffled softly but he was smiling all the same as he listened. Kiku could tell the most wonderful stories at times, and he loved to hear them.

"Days passed, then weeks and soon months. They spent their time together, talking, building a life together in the girl's house she had taken care of over the years. At times their heads butted, but every disagreement was smoothed over. Soon, their friendship evolved into something even more special. Love. Years later, to their surprise they had a child together. Another little blessing in the life they had only to spend with each other. Even though they never found another living soul... they were happy. Together, they had two beautiful children; Megumi and Mirai, two little girls whose names mean blessing and future. Against all odds, in a world that had ended around them, they developed their own happiness and family, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden..."

Kiku didn't exactly have an ending in mind for his story, so his voice merely trailed off as his mind did as well. But after a few moments of silence the sound of clapping met his ears. Blinking, he picked his head up and saw Feliciano smiling and crying a little at him. "Kii-kun, that was such a sweet story! It was really sad too though, but it was really, really good! It sounds like something that could be a hit manga!"

The Japanese boy blushed a little and scratched his cheek now. "E-eh, well... in truth, it's an idea for a manga I've had for quite some time now. I'm still working on it though so it's probably not the greatest..."

"Of course it is! Besides, if you keep writing it then one day you might get it published! - No, I _know_ you can get it published!" Feliciano said with a grin. "You're very talented, Kii-kun."

Kiku blushed a little more, but he managed a soft smile as well. "T-that's very sweet of you, Feliciano..."

"It was a nice story, Kiku-chan." Lovino said with a smile. He then looked around at the others now. "Alright, who wants to go next?"

Elizabeta volunteered to tell a story this time, though she told a cute story instead. About two puppies and a kitten who became friends with each other and tried to find their way back to their owner. Feliciano tried to tell a story as well but his didn't turn out that well, didn't even end up making much sense either. But after everyone had tried their hand at telling a story they soon decided it was time to turn in for the night. Elizabeta set an alarm for them, designating herself as the one to wake everyone up in the morning.

Feliciano had the bright idea of zipping his sleeping bag up to Monika's, so there was room in it for them both and could snuggle up if they wanted. Which they did. Monika was careful to keep her growing abdomen from touching him, having Feliciano's Rilakkuma plush between them to help just in case. Once everyone was all settled down, Elizabeta turned the lantern down so it was dim now. Just in case they needed to get up in the middle of the night there were flashlights on the counter as well. Good nights were exchanged from the tents, before everyone settled in to sleep for the night.

Pookie cuddled herself up beside Elizabeta for the night, not finding a free space between Feliciano and Monika for herself. The Hungarian woman smiled though, gently draping an arm over the cat as she purred and drifted to sleep.

 _"Hm..."_ Feliciano hummed sleepily with his eyes closed as he and Monika cuddled up, Rilakkuma keeping her stomach from touching his. _"This is nice, isn't it Moni?... Maybe some other night we can camp out and watch the stars before we go to bed..."_

Monika kept her eyes closed as well, but gently nuzzled her face closer to his, their foreheads touching now. _"That sounds gut... I'd love to, Feli..."_ she whispered.

 _"Wunderbar..."_ Feliciano smiled, proud of himself for using a German word like he had learned from Monika. One of his hands gently gripped Monika's above his teddy bear, her fingers holding onto him in return as well. _"Good night, mio amore~"_

Monika breathed softly, smiling. _"Guten nacht, mein liebling..."_

* * *

So for the scary stories, the one Lovino told was inspired by the Ghost Bride story from Hey Arnold! And Kiku's was inspired by a mixture of Clannad and Shelter.


	12. Chapter 12: Field Day

_**Chapter 12: Field Day**_

* * *

A week went by after their test of courage and camp-out. The weather continued to be a bit drizzly, the sun coming out for a few hours every morning and afternoon before the rain would return. The solar panels held energy reserves but with a week less of regular sunshine, so now they were forced to conserve power wherever they could. They cooked a little less, surviving on canned food and other rations.

It was a dull afternoon where Elizabeta was tutoring Lovino and Feliciano, and even she was finding it hard to focus as of late. So when she let Feliciano alone for a few minutes to solve a problem on his own she was just as surprised as the others when he suddenly stood up and clapped his hands on the desk. "I've got a great idea! Since we need something to do, let's have a field day!"

Kiku picked his head up from his sketchbook, Feliciano having caught his attention. "A field day?"

"Si! We can have ourselves a day full of fun activities to do, since it's been raining so much!" he said with a bright smile.

"What sort of activities did you have in mind?" Lovino asked.

"We can do a relay race down the hall, jumping jacks, jump rope, ball tossing - ooh, and a bread-eating race! I've always wanted to try a bread-eating race! And whoever gets the most points can get a special prize!"

"Let me guess, some of the treats we bought during the test of courage?" Lovino said.

Feliciano pouted a little. "Maybe, but you'll have to wait and see what it is!"

"Hm... well, why don't you go ask Roddy about it? We can think up a few things while you talk it over." Elizabeta told him.

Feliciano smiled and nodded, giving her a salute. "Roger that, Miss Lizzy! I'll be back soon!" he said, scurrying excitedly out the door and to the teachers' lounge. Humming a bit to himself as he skipped a little down the hall.

"This is a bit of a relief... I was starting to get worried about him." Monika said with a soft sigh. "He hasn't had an idea on something to do for a while now. It couldn't have come at a better time, I'm sure we're all getting a bit stir-crazy."

"Hai, and hopefully it'll help if we have a chance to get some exercise. It feels like we might've been a bit lazier this week then we should have..." Kiku replied. "We haven't even gone downstairs since the test of courage."

"Yeah... but better safe than sorry." Antonio said with a nod as he stood at the counter, working on dinner for them. They weren't using the stove every time they cooked, since it used more electricity then other things like the hot plates, rice cooker and crock pot. They had some frozen meat and vegetables for a beef stew and rice balls so that's what he was making for the night. The stew they had leftover they could heat up for lunch the next day. "Even if we could use some extra supplies from the store or the cafeteria... we shouldn't go down there again when there's rain."

Elizabeta's chest was a bit heavy but she nodded and let out a sigh. "Ja. But, hopefully the weather will clear up in a few more days. One good sunny day will be all we need to get back on track again, then we can also shower again." With the energy low they were only showering when they absolutely needed to. Beforehand they did it every other day and when they needed to as well, so as not to use too much water or energy then either.

"Well, so long as Roderich gives Feli the okay, we can skip showering tonight and after the field day tomorrow we can all enjoy a nice soak. There is the big bathtub in the sports team locker room." Lovino said. "We can shower off and take a long hot bath afterwards."

"Hm... that sounds perfect." Monika said with a soft smile, rubbing her stomach gently. "My back's been aching lately..."

Antonio looked over his shoulder at her now. "We already told you we'd understand if you need to shower when we don't, while you're like this."

"I couldn't, it wouldn't be fair to take advantage of that just because of this." Monika replied, shaking her head and looking down.

"If I could get away with it I'd probably be showering every day..." Lovino said with a sigh. His gaze looked down solemnly, a thought floating around in his head that he desperately wanted to let out... but couldn't.

 _'Will we ever get out of this place?...'_

The sound of the door sliding open quickly met their ears, Feliciano pipping up as soon as he came back into the room. "Roddy said it's all hunky-dory, we can set up a field day! What sort of activities does everyone have in mind?"

Elizabeta smiled, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Well, we can think some up and discuss them at dinner, does that sound good?"

Feliciano grinned and nodded. "Roger that!"

* * *

After dinner that night they finished planning out their activities for the following afternoon; starting with a relay race down the hall, followed by push-ups, sit-ups, yoga, a tug-of-war, ball-tossing and bread-eating contest. They set everything up that night, splitting into two teams; Feliciano, Antonio and Lovino on one team, Elizabeta, Monika and Kiku on the other. Feliciano said Roderich decided to sit it out, which was fine with them. It meant less of a hassle for whoever's team he wound up on...

Feliciano's team decided their team color was red, for tomatoes, and the others decided theirs was blue to keep things simple. As they put things together, taping up balls with colored tape and finding a bucket to toss them into on the ceiling, Feliciano had went to retrieve a CD player from the music room and put on some of the classical music he practiced to with Roderich during his music lessons. Luckily it could be plugged in or run on batteries, so they didn't need to worry about using too much electricity. As they had the music to listen to, the Italian said that they could play different songs during the events to help them stay focused.

"Roddy says that classical music helps brain function and that it even has benefits when played to an unborn baby!" Feliciano said with a smile.

Monika's fingers fumbled slightly with the ball she was wrapping some tape around, freezing in her task. With a hum, Feliciano blinked and looked over at her. Noticing the far-away look in her eyes.

"Moni? What's wrong?" he asked gently. "Are you sick again?"

Monika blinked and picked her head up, seeing the concern in his eyes and soon shook her head. "Oh, no, nothing like that... I just... well, I feel like I heard something like that before. It's just... it's just interesting and I don't remember where." she responded. Which was a total lie. Roderich had told her that before... _that day_.

"Wow really? You're so smart, Moni! I'm not surprised you already knew that." Feliciano said with a smile.

Monika blushed softly, but managed to smile slightly. "You're such a sweetheart, Feli."

They finished putting everything together they would need for the next day, having some hot cocoa and a few snacks before they turned in for the night. To everyone's surprise, Feliciano woke up around the same time as them all, helping to put away the futons before they changed into their gym clothes and went to have breakfast. Feliciano even volunteered to help cook, especially when they decided to make some spaghetti for breakfast since it was filling and good for energy, which they would need for their field day activities.

First they ran a relay, in which Antonio raced against Monika. However he let her win to keep up the charade of her being on the track and field team. When she crossed the finish line, Feliciano cheered for her and hugged her from behind happily. The other relays were Lovino against Feliciano, in which the younger twin was left in the dust, and Kiku against Elizabeta was a very close call they settled to be a tie.

Next, they jumped rope, then did jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, and yoga. Lovino won the jump roping contest, both regular and double-dutch, in which Feliciano landed on his face both times in failure. Each time, Monika simply kissed his cheek and said she was still proud of him, which cheered him right up. Jumping jacks, push-ups and sit-ups they simply did more for fun then anything else, not keeping count of them. Yoga was also more laid-back, and more of a break for them.

The day flew by in almost an instant; the last two events were the bread-eating contest and their ball-toss game. Feliciano felt proud when he came in first for bread-eating, and when his team won the ball-tossing game by just three throws.

That night, after they had taken their baths, they sat down to dinner of instant rice, omelettes and frozen sausages. Afterwards, Feliciano took out more of the treats he had bought during the test of courage, handing them out to everyone as their prizes for doing so well. "Everyone did great, and we had a lot of fun! That's why I wanted to give everyone something special." he said with a smile.

Antonio smiled warmly. "Gracias, mi amigo."

"Hai, arigatou, Sempai." Kiku said.

"Grazie, Fratellino." Lovino added with a slight grin.

Suddenly, Feliciano blinked and looked to his left, then started spluttering and waving his hands around. "Ah, no, I'm sorry Roddy! I didn't mean to forget you... of course you deserve something to! Let's go find it!"

The others chuckled as Feliciano rushed out of the room to go back to the club room, so he could look for Roderich's prize. "Well, we should have seen that coming..." Lovino mumbled.

"Si, but at least it's kind of funny." Antonio replied. "Why don't we finish cleaning up and head to bed soon... it's been a long day."

A little while later, after they had finished cleaning and sat down to eat their snacks, Feliciano came back into the room with a smile and he held something behind his back with one of his hands. "Ah, Moni! I almost forgot, I have something special for you!"

Monika blinked a bit from her spot at the table, wondering what he was talking about. "What for?" she asked, a bit confused.

Feliciano giggled slightly and smiled as he came over to her. "I forgot about this when we got back, but Roddy and I picked out a present for you when we went on the club outing. I think it was for our anniversary." A moment later, he then took his hands from behind his back and held out the present. "Surprise!" Monika gasped softly when she saw it; a Korilakkuma plushie with a pink ribbon tied with a bow around its neck, and a small card slipped under the ribbon with a bit of writing on it. "I got it for you to go with my Rilakkuma, so we'd both have one!" Feliciano said with a big smile. "Isn't it cute?~"

Monika smiled softly, nodding and took the plushie as he handed it to her. "Ja, it's really cute... I love it, thank you Feli." she said, standing up and kissing his cheek.

"I'm really glad you like it! And I'm sorry I forgot about it so long... ah, I know! I can make us a nice dinner together! We can have a belated anniversary celebration, how does that sound?"

She nodded in response. "That sounds wonderful."

"Ah, great!" he said with a smile.

"Why don't you go get ready for bed now, Feli? We'll be in to help set up the futons soon." Elizabeta said.

"Yes, Lizzy!" Feliciano responded with a smile. "After all that exercise, I think I'm gonna sleep like a rock tonight... ah, Roddy don't be so mean! I won't be late for homeroom tomorrow, I promise." he said as he walked to the door and opened it, closing it behind him before he went down the hall to the club room now.

Monika looked down at the plushie in her arms with a bit of a sad smile. Feliciano really did know her well, and that when they moved to Japan for school she started to love the Sanrio characters. So most chances he had, Feliciano would buy her a new plushie or something else with one of them on it. She didn't have any Korilakkuma things yet, which made her smile because he had known what to get her. "That really was sweet of him. I guess... he forgot about it because of what happened." she said with a heavy heart.

"I guess so..." Lovino muttered with a nod.

Antonio's eyes landed on the card that was under the ribbon. "What does the note say?"

Monika noticed it and slipped it off, unfolding it and her eyes widened a little at what she read. In unmistakable, distinctive cursive writing on the bottom half. And Feliciano's somewhat sloppy handwriting on the top half.

 _ **'Happy Anniversary, Mio Amore~**_ _**'**_

 _ **'For Monika and the baby.**_

 _ **Love, Uncle Roderich and Feliciano'**_

Her eyes teared up a bit, suddenly holding the plushie tighter to her chest now, her hand shaking a little and she looked down. Without saying a word, Elizabeta stood up and went over, placing her hands on Monika's shoulders and hugged her from behind, tightly and firmly.

 _"... It's from them both... Feli and Roddy..."_ Monika said softly. _"... Roddy loved the Rilakkuma family..."_

Elizabeta smiled a bit sadly, but she nodded. "I remember... he decorated the music room in the elementary school with them to make the children feel more at ease. They always had fun when he gave them their lessons..." She held Monika a bit tighter now. "Think of it like this... this gift is also like his final goodbye. He loved you very much sweetheart... he loved us all."

Lovino hung his head and looked down, his eyes tearing up slightly. " _... Yeah... he did..._ " he uttered.

That night, when they went to bed and turned out the lights, Feliciano and Monika laid close nearby each other on their futons, both of them holding their plushies in their arms. Their hands gripped one anothers as they slept, staying close to each other. Monika felt a little melancholy as she fell asleep, but the plushie gave her comfort. And a hope for the future.

* * *

Super sorry for such a late update... I'm still working on chapter 15 and I'm a little stuck so I'll update steadier once I have more material. Also I've been posting a Hetalia/Yuri On Ice story on Archive Of Our Own that I may start posting on here soon as well, I've been working on it since about early February but didn't start posting it until July. I'll post a link on my profile if anyone is interested in reading it.

Anyways sorry again for a late update. Once I have a few more chapters ready I'll start updating on a schedule again.

Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate a few reviews!


	13. Chapter 13: Letter

_**Chapter 13: Letter**_

* * *

In the weeks that followed, it was much sunnier. Able to cook a bit more was wonderful, and with less rain it was safer for them to venture down to the cafeteria and bring up more food from the kitchen, taking as much non-perishable and frozen food as they could store upstairs. They had plenty more rice now, which they ate with most of their meals so everything else could last longer.

The weather seemed to be warming up a bit, which meant the rooftop garden would be plentiful with fresh vegetables now. The hens were still laying plenty of eggs for them to use as well, meaning they were able to make fresh bread and sometimes sweets.

Elizabeta was carefully cataloging everything in her accounting book to keep track of what they had, what plants they were growing and how many non-perishables they had. Thanks to the power that was still going to the deep-freeze in the cafeteria, they had food to last for quite a while but they knew that wouldn't be enough for years, a decade, or however long they were there. They knew there was something else that they needed to do some day... somewhere else to go, if there were anywhere else safe enough.

Summer was coming, they didn't know if they'd have enough power every day to keep cooking and use the air conditioners in the rooms they needed. So they stocked up on batteries for their lanterns, started thinking of things to do so they wouldn't need to cook so often in the heat.

One afternoon, as Elizabeta was helping Feliciano with his English work, reading old stories and letters, the boy seemed to have a hard time paying attention like he wanted to fall asleep. "These are so hard to understand... the language is so old..." Feliciano muttered.

"What are you having a hard time understanding?" Kiku asked, picking his head up from his book.

" _Everything..._ " Feliciano said with an exasperated sigh, sprawling out face-down over his work books. "What's the point of these, they're so hard to understand..."

"You just need to know how to interpret them." Kiku replied, tapping Feli's head so he could pull out one of the Italian's books from beneath his head. "Sometimes it's abstract, sometimes the language is a bit dated. Saying one thing and meaning another is what makes literature so amazing."

"Yeah, like, if a guy says, _'I've got an anaconda for a dick'_ , he doesn't mean he literally has a huge-ass snake where his dick should be, it means he's got a huge dick. Either that, or he's lying out his asshole." Lovino said with a snort, barely able to hold back his amused laughter.

Elizabeta sighed, brushing a bit of hair behind her ear. "As... colorful as Lovi's language is, that's essentially what it's like. Like _'hail the size of baseballs'_ , or _'the rain was so hard and heavy that it could break through glass'_."

"Ah, okay, I see..." Feliciano said with a small nod and hummed a little as he laid his cheek against his books again. "Mmh... but what's the point of them having written this stuff if it's hard to understand?"

"To leave something behind in the world that says, _'I was here.'_ It's their way of proving they left something for future generations to enjoy." Kiku responded. "Like all of the great writers through the years. Some people don't even mean to write something that would be remembered so well... like people who wrote letters." As he turned a page in Feliciano's text book, his eyes lit up a bit. "Ah, this one is one of my favorites!" he said, holding the book in his hands as he stood up to read aloud. " _'The flow of the river is ceaseless, yet the water is never the same. The foam that floats on stagnant pools, now vanishing, now forming, are not long in their duration. So, too, it is with man and his dwellings in the world. They are the blink of an eye.'_ " He looked back over at Feliciano now, whose eyes seemed a bit brighter from hearing the younger boy recite the passage. "That's from An Account of My Hut. It was written over 800 years ago... left behind after so long, and people still read it any enjoy it."

"Wow... 800 years!" Feliciano said in wonder. "The feelings of someone from that long ago are still touching people. Letters sure are amazing!"

Kiku chuckled softly. "It's more like an essay then a letter... but that's essentially the idea, Sempai." he replied with a small smile. "Why don't I help you out? I love classic literature."

"Ah, that'd be great! You don't mind do you Miss Lizzy?" Feliciano asked.

"Not at all, the more the merrier." Elizabeta replied with a smile.

* * *

That night, after Feliciano had fallen asleep, Monika was feeling a little restless. With her stomach continuing to grow, she couldn't get very comfortable at times. Carefully, she managed to get out of her futon without waking anyone and slipped out of the room, holding her Korilakkuma plushie to her chest as she wandered down the hall in her slippers. She noticed a light coming from the club room, so she walked to the door and knocked before she opened it up.

Elizabeta and Antonio were both inside, pouring tea into cups, looking over at the door and blinked when they saw Monika. "Oh, Moni sweetheart... are you alright?" Elizabeta asked gently.

Monika sighed softly, closing the door behind her, walked over to their makeshift table and sat down. "I can't sleep... I'm so achy, I can barely get comfortable anymore..."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart... here, would you like some tea?" Elizabeta asked as she reached for a clean mug.

Monika smiled a little and nodded. "Ja, danke."

"I'm sorry it's been so difficult for you in your condition, mi amiga," Antonio said gently. "I think we have some spare pillows somewhere if they would help... in the mean time you can borrow my pillow tonight if you want."

"I wouldn't want to impose you like that, Toni..." Monika responded as Elizabeta placed her tea down in front of her. "I need to figure out something before I balloon up any bigger..."

Elizabeta looked down into her mug as she sat down across from Monika. "Well... I know we have the spare pillow and futon in the staff room." she said solemnly.

Monika was silent for a moment, then she shook her head. "Nein... it wouldn't feel right to use them... at least to me..."

Elizabeta sighed and nodded. "I know the feeling... sometimes I go there just to smell his pillow. It still has the scent of his cologne in it..."

Antonio smiled a little at the memory, looking out of the window as he did. "He carried an extra bottle in his briefcase... it's still half-full."

"I love that smell... it reminds me of Christmas when I was a kid. Every Christmas Eve he would sit me on his lap, ask me what I wanted Santa to bring me, and if I had been a good girl. He always smiled and reassured me I was... he'd pat me on the head and give me a big hug. Then the next morning, whenever I would open my presents, he just smiled and told me he was right. It always felt so magical... I think that was always my favorite part of Christmas."

Elizabeta smiled warmly from Monika's memory, taking a sip of her tea. "We always loved seeing your faces light up on Christmas morning... oh how he loved to spoil you."

Monika sighed and closed her eyes, a moment later a few tears started poking from behind her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. _"... I really miss him..."_ she uttered.

Elizabeta reached across the table to her, gently placing her hand over Monika's hand. "... We all do..." she responded.

Antonio continued to look out the window, sipping his tea slowly. "We'll get out of here, I know it. We can't let his sacrifice be in vain..."

Elizabeta nodded firmly. "I know... I just hope something can come of this soon. We need to plan more on when we're going to leave... summer is coming. It could be more difficult soon."

Antonio hummed slightly in thought, turning his head towards the other two now. "I wonder... maybe there's something useful we can find in Roddy's things. He had a few maps and things from when we went on the club outing... maybe there's something else in his briefcase or his desk."

"It's worth looking into..." Elizabeta said with a nod. "If we aren't going to sleep, then maybe we could look now."

"Better then doing nothing..." Antonio replied.

"I can help look," Monika said, looking up at Elizabeta. "I can't sleep right now either... I want to help if I can."

Elizabeta looked a bit worriedly at her, but after a moment she smiled gently and nodded. "Alright... just be careful, ja?"

Monika nodded in return. "Of course."

* * *

Antonio held the electric lantern, leading the way down the hall to the staff room. They went inside, finding the light switch and flicked it on since the light from the room couldn't be seen very well from the outside. As leaving on the room lights would tend to attract more zombies, they tended to shut them off as the sun was going down, which also helped to save energy when they needed to.

The staff room looked as neat and immaculate as a museum display; as if it were in suspended animation, having been left untouched by the horrors that laid beyond the outside world. One desk, at the edge of a row, held on top of it a folded futon, pillow and a briefcase. In front of the desk was a violin case, inside which held Roderich's personal violin. Left untouched, with a small amount of dust over the case.

"Let's just look for a little while tonight, then we can look a bit harder tomorrow, ja?" Elizabeta said.

Monika and Antonio nodded in understanding, each of them taking a look around. "If something looks important, we'll take it and see what we can do." Antonio suggested.

"Sounds good..." Monika replied with a slight nod, still holding her plush bear in her arms. Taking a deep breath, she let it out before following the other two over to the desk.

Antonio carefully picked up the briefcase, undoing the latch and opened it up. He started to pull out the contents; a few music books, a text book, a small notebook and a novel. "Not much, but it could be a start..." Antonio said, picking up the notebook and set down the briefcase again. However, it slipped off of the pillow and something slipped out of another pocket; a small, silver key on a red key tag with _**Edelstein, R.**_ written on it.

Blinking, Elizabeta picked it up and looked at it. "What is this for?... It couldn't be the key to his desk, he never locked it."

Monika's eyes widened a bit. "I've seen those before... I caught glimpses of them in the other teachers' desks before. Are they all the same?..."

"Perhaps... but I don't recall receiving one." Elizabeta replied. "Maybe it was with the hire pamphlets we received... I never looked through that paperwork, but Roderich did."

"Did he say anything about them?" Antonio asked.

"No... he said there wasn't anything particularly unusual. Manuals, school policies... but not much else." Elizabeta responded.

Monika looked around the room at the other desks, silent for a moment before she approached one of them and opened a bottom drawer, digging through it for a moment before she pulled out a key with a red tag identical to the one with Roderich's name on it. "There's another one here with the Math teacher's name on it." she said, taking it over to them so they could compare them.

Antonio took them both, giving them a closer look over. He worried his brow as he saw they had identical markings, teeth, and size. "There must be something we don't know... perhaps there's something we need to find that the keys will fit." he said.

"This seems so strange... what could they be for?" Elizabeta wondered out loud.

"Who knows... but we should look tomorrow." Antonio replied. "If there's more of the keys in the teachers' desks, we can look faster with them. Try unlocking more things at once."

Elizabeta and Monika both nodded, though Elizabeta gently took the key with Roderich's name on the tag. "I'll hold onto this one... it was Roddy's after all."

Antonio nodded gently. "Si, of course."

Taking a look through Roderich's desk, they didn't find much. Another notebook, this time one that looked like a journal, but other then that nothing else seemed to be important. They left what was in Roderich's briefcase on Elizabeta's desk, along with the journal, deciding to retire for the night.

They left the room, shutting off the light and closed the door. Antonio led the way back to the club room, where they finished their tea before turning in for the night. Monika laid carefully onto her side, trying to get comfortable before she fell asleep. Feliciano was sprawled out on his futon beside hers, drooling a little against his pillow and held his Rilakkuma plush closely.

As the other two fell asleep a bit more easier, Elizabeta laid awake, staring at the ceiling and looked out of the window a few times. The sky was clear and bright, filled with stars and moonlight. Beautiful, but silent. With a sigh, she rolled onto her side, reaching into her shirt and gently grasped the wedding rings on her necklace. Breathing softly, she began to drift off, thinking of Roderich. Recalling the soothing scent of his cologne.

* * *

Breakfast was relatively uneventful, everyone enjoying their food together before getting a start on their studying once more. Feliciano hummed a bit happily to himself as he read, Kiku helping him understand his literature homework.

As lunchtime approached, they brainstormed on what to make, in which Kiku volunteered to make udon for them. Feliciano continued to work on his literature homework, switching off between reading and writing.

Not long later, as Kiku was serving their lunch, Feliciano's eyes brightened up and he stood up, smacking his hands excitedly on the table. "Ah, I've got an idea for our next club activity!" he announced with a big smile.

"Hm? What is it now, Fratellino?" Lovino asked.

Feliciano giggled happily, picking up his literature book. "We should write letters! And send them out."

Antonio blinked curiously. "Letters?" he asked.

"Si! These reading assignments I've had, they remind me of letters!" Feliciano said with a smile. "Detailing everyday things of their time, that's something the School Living Club could do, it'll be our way of telling the world about our club life and club activities."

Kiku seemed a little silent in surprise, but a moment later picked his head up. "Well... it sounds interesting, but don't you remember one of the club rules, Sempai?"

Feliciano blinked and looked at him. "What's that, Kii-kun?"

"All School Living Club members must not leave the school." Kiku replied. "We couldn't send out letters without leaving and violating the club rules..."

Lovino's eyes suddenly lit up a bit and he grinned mischievously. "We can catch a carrier pigeon!" he said. "I see pigeons on the roof all the time, we can catch one and attach a letter to its leg."

"That solves the way to send one letter. But what do we do? Catch half a dozen or so?" Antonio asked with a quirked brow.

Feliciano's eyes lit up again and he went to one of the shelves, picking up a plastic package from it. "My balloons! The ones from the test of courage! We can write letters and tie them to balloons! And they blow up into cool shapes, so they'll look really interesting in the sky and people will want to catch them and read one."

Kiku suddenly stood up, an odd look in his eyes but he stared over at Feliciano. "That's... that's actually a great idea, Sempai. There's a helium tank in the science lab... we can make that work. It's a great idea."

Feliciano practically started to swoon, putting down the pack of balloons and sped over to the Japanese boy, enveloping him in a hug and nuzzled his cheek against Kiku's. " _Aaaaww_ , you're such an amazing kouhai! You really know how to flatter me, Kii-kun!~"

Kiku tensed up a bit and blushed, starting to splutter a bit now. "D-don't call me that..." he muttered, his voice a bit softer and more monotone then usual.

Feliciano blinked, pulling away a moment later, holding Kiku by his shoulders. "Kii-kun? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Kiku kept his head low, staring towards the floor. "... Nothing, I just... never mind..." he mumbled.

"Personal space, Fratellino." Lovino said, bapping Feliciano on the nose like a naughty puppy who peed on the carpet. "Remember to respect others' personal space, Feli. Not everyone is as touchy-feely as you are..."

Feliciano pouted slightly, but he nodded. "Yes, Fratellone... sorry, Kii-kun." he said, looking back at Kiku and gently pat his shoulders before he let him go.

Kiku nodded mutely, keeping his head down, his eyes a bit distant now. "It's alright... don't worry about it, Feli-sempai." he muttered, holding onto his arms.

Lovino frowned slightly, but gently placed his hand on the back of Kiku's shoulder. "Come on, let's have lunch now, si? We can talk about this new activity while we eat."

Slowly, Kiku picked his head back up a bit and nodded. "Hai... alright..." he responded.

* * *

 _"Kii-chan... Kii-chan..."_

Kiku groaned softly, rolling over and nuzzled his cheek into his cool pillow. A cooler hand brushed his bangs off of his face, placing itself on his forehead.

A gentle sigh was heard. _"You have a fever... don't worry, Big Brother is here to take care of you."_

Brown eyes slowly slid open halfway, fuzzy vision laying on the form of a dark-haired brunette with a ponytail resting against his shoulder, wearing that familiar, soft red shirt. Similar brown eyes smiled gently, leaning over and kissed Kiku's forehead, lips soft and cool.

 _"Here... take Big Brother's panda bear, and rest up. I'll go make you some soup, and bring you something cool to drink."_ The familiar, black and white, ever-soft plushie was set down beside Kiku, smelling faintly of the way his brother did. _"I'll be right back. I'm here if you need anything, Kii-chan."_

Kiku hummed softly, his arms slowly gathering the panda bear into his arms, holding it closely and smiled gently. _"Arigatou, Big Brother..."_ he uttered before he closed his eyes.

* * *

"Kiku-chan?... Kiku-chan?"

The Japanese boy blinked, picking his head up from the object in his hands. He looked over to the door of the old sewing classroom, finding Elizabeta and Antonio standing there. "Ah, hai?" he asked, standing up from his chair.

"Are you alright, darling?" Elizabeta inquired as they approached him. She carefully lifted her hand, brushing the hair from his forehead before she felt it. "Hm... you have a bit of a fever... you should probably lie down for a bit."

"Eh?... But what about our afternoon patrols?..." Kiku replied.

"I noticed last night there was more activity then usual around the entrance, it's probably best not to go down there today. We don't want to be swarmed..." Antonio told him. He then saw more clearly what Kiku held in his arms, finding it to be a stuffed panda bear with a red ribbon tied around its neck. "Something's bothering you again, isn't it amigo?"

Kiku looked down with a sigh, staring into the black button eyes the panda had. "... My brother... my only family left in the entire world... I've been dreaming about him again."

Elizabeta's eyes saddened slightly, but she nodded in understanding and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Just have faith. There's always a chance. The college he goes to is as well-equipped as our school is. With the big gates around it, there's a good chance it's perfect for keeping those creatures at bay."

"But it's strange, isn't it?" When Kiku asked that, the Spaniard and Hungarian both blinked in confusion. "Even for a modern structure, the school is well-equipped. Almost _too_ well-equipped. Most new office buildings aren't given as many amenities as we have here, at most they'd have one or two such as the solar panels or the water purification system. All of the levels are blocked off so that they can be separated, as if to keep things out or away. It almost seems like a bunker that can keep people safe and sustained... and keep something out. An army invasion. Or an outbreak."

Antonio's throat tightened slightly, but after a moment he nodded. "I know. I've been thinking the same thing."

Elizabeta nodded. "It is strange, I know." Taking one more look at Kiku's slightly red, tired-looking face her heart clenched a little again and she carefully wound her arms around him, letting him rest his head against her chest. "We'll get to the bottom of everything soon, alright? For now, let's get you to bed. You need to get some rest, darling."

Kiku seemed a little reluctant to listen to her, but he sighed and nodded slightly. "Hai, Miss Lizzy..."

* * *

Elizabeta stayed with Kiku, keeping an eye on him as he rested that afternoon. He held the panda bear he made closely, seeming a bit more at ease with it now. Occasionally, Elizabeta brushed her fingers gently over his hair in a comforting manner which he seemed to like.

Once he woke up, his fever had gone down and he was feeling better then before. Not long after he and Elizabeta returned to the club room, Feliciano came back from his private lessons as well with some stationery, colored pencils and such. "Alright, it's time for our next activity to begin!" he announced as he set everything down on the table. "I got everything I could find that looked good to use, so let's do our best!"

Antonio smiled and nodded. "Alright, sounds good mi amigo."

Lovino hummed slightly from his seat he was leaning back in. "But who are we going to write to? _'Dear whoever gets this paper'_?"

" _Hmmm_... I dunno... maybe we can write about the club and what we plan to do when we graduate!" Feliciano suggested with a smile. "If other students find the letters, maybe they'll want to join the club. That way it'll keep going with more members once us seniors graduate!"

Kiku blinked a little bit, keeping his panda in his arms and looked over at Feliciano again. "Y-you want the club to keep going?..." he asked.

"Of course! You're a junior so when the seniors graduate, you'll be the club president. And you can keep the School Living Club alive by teaching other kouhais how to follow the club rules and guidelines." Feliciano replied. "Although... you're so smart you could graduate early if you wanted to, Kii-kun!"

Kiku blushed a little, but he tightened his arms around his panda slightly. "That's quite kind of you to say, Sempai."

"Alright! While y'all get started with the letters, I'm gonna go catch us a carrier pigeon!" Lovino said with a grin as he stood up.

"I can go find the helium tank," Kiku said as he stood up, placing his panda down on the table in front of his seat.

Monika stood up as well, smoothing out her uniform a bit. "I'll come too, I know I haven't been entirely helpful lately. I think I remember where it is."

Kiku nodded slightly. "Hai, alright then. Let's go." he replied.

As Lovino went up to the roof and Monika accompanied Kiku to the science lab, Feliciano sat at the table with a hum as he started writing his letter. Elizabeta and Antonio had planned certain notes to write for the letters to send out, citing where they were and how many of them there were. And that Monika was pregnant, and Feliciano was a bit mentally unstable. However, with Feliciano present they were writing other such things so as not to raise suspicion.

Feliciano read over the few sentences he'd written with a soft hum, soon picking up his eraser and erased t hem. "My handwriting is so messy... what if someone can't even read what I wrote that well?..." he mumbled with a pout.

Elizabeta looked over at him and set down her pencil, giving him a gentle smile now. "Feli, if you found a letter like the ones we're sending out now, how would you feel when you read it?"

Feliciano hummed a little and then smiled. "I'd feel... happy! Sort of like I'd found a message in a bottle."

"And would you care how the writer's handwriting looked like?" Elizabeta asked.

"Hm... no, I guess not..." he replied. "So do you think they would care how my writing looks?"

"I wouldn't think so." Antonio replied. "It'd be fun to receive a letter like this. I'm sure whoever finds it and reads it will be happy to find something so happy and full of cute doodles."

Felicianl blinked and blushed slightly. "I haven't even drawn in it yet, how did you know I would?"

Antonio chuckled. "Because that's what you do, Feli." he responded with a warm smile.

Some time later, Kiku and Monika came back with the helium tank they needed, pushing it on a cart and placed it against the wall where it would be out of the way. As they continued writing their letters, Lovino was busy luring a pigeon into his 'trap', which was simply a bowl of rice over which he'd drop a bucket to catch it in.

About half an hour later, Lovino returned to the club room with the pigeon in a cage from the chicken coop meant for just one bird. He grinned triumphantly, setting the cage down on the counter and soon joined the others in finishing the letters. Once Feliciano was done and distracted for the night, they slipped in their SOS papers into each envelope before sealing them and tying them into clear plastic bags to protect them from possible rain.

With the plan to wake up early the next morning to inflate the balloons and send them out, they headed to bed not long after they finished dinner and had cleaned up.

As the sun rose, illuminating the buildings that stretched out over the horizon, the group made their way up to the roof. It was a bit windy that morning, which worked well in their favor. Hopefully it would help the balloons travel far enough for someone to find them, or even just be able to see them. A sign that there were others still out there, as they hoped there were.

Feliciano looked out to the sky with his brown eyes wide in wonder, a big smile on his face. "It's such a beautiful day... maybe if someone finds one of our letters, it'll brighten their day too!"

Monika smiled softly from her boyfriend's thoughts. "That would be nice... let's hope so, Liebling."

Each of them held their balloons in hand, ready to let them go at the same time, and Lovino held the carrier pigeon in its cage, ready to let it go as well. "Well, it was fun catching you Arnault, but now it's your job to go get this message out to someone for us, si?"

"Huh? Why are you calling Hatoko-chan 'Arnault'?" Feliciano asked as he looked towards his twin brother.

"Hah? I caught her, I named her! She's totally an Arnault!" Lovino admonished.

Feliciano pouted. "But the name Hatoko Hatonishiki sounds so cute and distinguished!"

"Well, Arnault sounds way more proper and befitting!"

"Now now, boys, why don't we compromise?" Elizabeta interjected. Knowing how sometimes the twins could clash on things they didn't agree on. "Why don't we call her Arnault Hatonishiki II?"

Feliciano and Lovino both blinked, looking at each other before they looked back at Elizabeta and nodded. "Well, okay." they responded.

Antonio quirked a brow. "Where did the _'II'_ come from?" he questioned.

Elizabeta smiled gently, looking out towards the sky again. "Alright... is everyone ready?"

Everyone looked around at everyone else, nodding and then they looked towards the sky together.

"On three now." Antonio instructed.

"One," Kiku started off.

"Two," the twins chimed.

 _ **"Three!"**_ everyone called together, letting go of their balloon strings, releasing them into the wind. At the same time, Lovino released Arnault Hatonishiki II from its cage, letting it fly off. A strong wind blew, guiding the balloons forwards, the strings fluttering a little.

Feliciano stared in wonder, smiling and pointing out towards them, still able to see the blue star-shape of his balloon he set out. His drawing on the envelope wasn't quite as legible from afar anymore, but he excitedly watched as they stayed in sight.

On each of their envelopes, they drew something identifiable to someone who would know who they were. Feliciano had drawn a picture of all of them as chibiis, hand-in-hand, with the caption, **_'We Are Happy Together!'_** Monika had drawn an Iron Cross, Lovino an Italian flag, Kiku a lucky cat and panda bear, Antonio the flag of Spain, and Elizabeta the flags of Germany, Austria and Hungary, the three places she had lived before coming to Japan.

Kiku stared as the balloons disappeared further from sight, holding his panda bear in one of his arms. Inevitably, aside from his SOS letter, he wrote about his brother, Yao. Namely, he wrote to him as if he were able to read it. He told him about how they were surviving, that they were still learning a bit, that they had formed a club to help cope with their day-by-day life. That he thought about him all the time, that he love him and hoped he would be able to see him again soon.

As his brown eyes grew wistful, Kiku looked out towards the horizon. " _'The dew may fall and flower remain, or the flower may wither before the dew is gone.'_ " he recited.

Antonio turned his head to the Japanese boy, seeing the look on his face. "That was beautiful... what was it?" he asked gently.

Kiku smiled sadly, feeling a few small tears in his eyes. "A line my brother was fond of."

Antonio's gaze softened. "I see..." he responded, looking back out towards the sky as the balloons disappeared from their sight. "I hope it reaches him."

Kiku blinked slightly, feeling the tears fall, but he smiled a little more and nodded, holding his panda bear tightly. "Hai... I hope it will." he said softly.

 _ **"Bye-bye, Arnault Hatonishiki II! Safe travels, bon voyage!"**_ Feliciano called out, waving to the sky. _**"Travel far and wide, spread the word about the School Living Club for us!"**_

As they stayed through the sunrise, they admired the sky for as long as possible. Before they went inside, to get their breakfast ready, Kiku brushed a bit of hair behind his ear as the wind blew around them.

 _'Whatever path I walk, I pray that someday, I'll meet you again along the way.'_

* * *

Okay... so I fudged up with my updates here. XD I'm still kinda stuck on chapter 15 and because of work and personal stuff, I haven't had as much time to write as I'd like to. But I AM still working on this story and I don't wanna give up on it!

I may start posting this on Archive Of Our Own, where I'm already posting an ongoing fic of mine that's a Hetalia and Yuri On Ice crossover! This site seems pretty dead and it kinda makes me depressed. ;-; I spent so much time on here when I was a teen, but onwards and upwards. So if my account ever falls dead again, you can find me on AO3 under "Canadia_On_Ice".

For anyone who's still reading this or have been waiting for an update thanks so much for reading, I hope I can continue this soon. :3 Thanks for your patience, I hope I have more to post soon! Until then, thanks again and I would love a review.


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